The wonders of the invisible world : being an account of the tryals of several witches lately executed in New England : to which is added : A farther account of the tryals of the New-England witches

lumimrccra:
Ex Librts

John
Donald
Cambridge E

j

Presented to the

LIBRARY of the

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

by

JOHN DONALD CAMBRIDGE

Hftrarg of ©Itr

THE WONDERS OF THE
INVISIBLE WORLD.

BEING AN ACCOUNT OF THE TRYALS OF SEVERAL

WITCHES LATELY EXECUTED IN

NEW-ENGLAND.

BY COTTON MATHER, D.D.

TO WHICH IS ADDED

A FARTHER ACCOUNT OF THE TRYALS OF THE

NEW-ENGLAND WITCHES.
BY INCREASE MATHER, D.D.

PRESIDENT OF HARVARD COLLEGE.

LONDON :

JOHN RUSSELL SMITH,

SOHO SQUARE.
18G2.

INTRODUCTION.

[HE two very rare works reprinted in the pre-
sent volume, written by two of the most cele-
brated of the early American divines, relate to
one of the most extraordinary cases of popu-
lar delusion that modern times have witnessed. It was a
delusion, moreover, to which men of learning and piety lent
themselves, and thus became the means of increasing it.
The scene of this affair was the puritanical colony of New
England, since better known as Massachusetts, the colonists
of which appear to have carried with them, in an exag-
gerated form, the superstitious feelings with regard to witch-
craft which then prevailed in the mother country. In the
spring of 1692 an alarm of witchcraft was raised in the
family of the minister of Salem, and some black servants
were charged with the supposed crime. Once started, the
alarm spread rapidly, and in a very short time a great
number of people fell under suspicion, and many were
thrown into prison on very frivolous grounds, supported, as
such charges usually were, by very unworthy witnesses.
The new governor of the colony, Sir William Phipps,

vi INTRODUCTION.

arrived from England in the middle of May, and he seems
to have been carried away by the excitement, and author-
ized judicial prosecutions. The trials began at the com-
mencement of June ; and the first victim, a woman named
Bridget Bishop, was hanged. Governor Phipps, embar-
rassed by this extraordinary state of things, called in the
assistance of the clergy of Boston.

There was at this time in Boston a distinguished family
of puritanical ministers of the name of Mather. Richard
Mather, an English non-conformist divine, had emigrated
to America in 1636, and settled at Dorchester, where, in
1639, he had a son born, who was named, in accordance
with the peculiar nomenclature of the puritans, Increase
Mather. This son distinguished himself much by his ac-
quirements as a scholar and a theologian, became estab-
lished as a minister in Boston, and in 1685 was elected pre-
sident of Harvard College. His son, born at Boston in 1 6 6 3,
and called from the name of his mother's family, Cotton
Mather, became more remarkable than his father for his
scholarship, gained also a distinguished position in Harvard
College, and was also, at the time of which we are speaking,
a minister of the gospel in Boston. Cotton Mather had
adopted all the most extreme notions of the puritanical
party with regard to witchcraft, and he had recently had
an opportunity of displaying them. In the summer of the
year 1688, the children of a mason of Boston named John
Goodwin were suddenly seized with fits and strange afflic-
tions, which were at once ascribed to witchcraft, and an
Irish washerwoman named Glover, employed by the family,
WHS suspected of being the witch. Cotton Mather was

INTRODUCTION. vii

called in to witness the sufferings of Goodwin's children ;
and he took home with him one of them, a little girl, who
had first displayed these symptoms, in order to examine her
with more care. The result was, that the Irish woman
was brought to a trial, found guilty, and hanged ; and
Cotton Mather published next year an account of the case,
under the title of " Late Memorable Providences, relating
to Witchcraft and Possession," which displays a very ex-
traordinary amount of credulity, and an equally great want
of anything like sound judgement. This work, no doubt,
spread the alarm of witchcraft through the whole colony,
and had some influence on the events which followed. It
may be supposed that the panic which had now arisen in
Salem was not likely to be appeased by the interference of
Cotton Mather and his father.

The execution of the washerwoman, Bridget Bishop,
had greatly increased the excitement ; and people in a
more respectable position began to be accused. On the
19th of July five more persons were executed, and five
more experienced the same fate on the 1 9th of August.
Among the latter was Mr. George Borroughs, a minister
of the gospel, whose principal crime appears to have been
a disbelief in witchcraft itself. His fate excited consider-
able sympathy, which, however, was checked by Cotton
Mather, who was present at the place of execution on
horseback, and addressed the crowd, assuring them that
Borroughs was an impostor. Many people, however, had
now become alarmed at the proceedings of the prosecutors,
and among those executed with Borroughs was a man
named John Willard, who had been employed to arrest

viii INTRODUCTION.

the persons charged by the accusers, and who had been
accused himself, because, from conscientious motives, he
refused to arrest any more. He attempted to save himself
by flight; but he was pursued and overtaken. Eight
more of the unfortunate victims of this delusion were
hanged on the 22nd of September, making in all nineteen
who had thus suffered, besides one who, in accordance with
the old criminal law practice, had been pressed to death
for refusing to plead. The excitement had indeed risen
to such a pitch that two dogs accused of witchcraft were
put to death.

A certain degree of reaction, however, appeared to be
taking place, and the magistrates who had conducted the
proceedings began to be alarmed, and to have some doubts
of the wisdom of their proceedings. Cotton Mather was
called upon by the governor to employ his pen in justifying
what had been done ; and the result was, the book which
stands first in the present volume, " The Wonders of the
Invisible World;" in which the author gives an account of
seven of the trials at Salem, compares the doings of the
witches in New England with those in other parts of the
world, and adds an elaborate dissertation on witchcraft in
general. This book was published at Boston, Massachu-
setts, in the month of October, 1692. Other circum-
stances, however, contributed to throw discredit on the
proceedings of the court, though the witch mania was at
the same time spreading throughout the whole colony.
In this same month of October, the wife of Mr. Hale,
minister of Beverley, was accused, although no person of
sense and respectability hud the slightest doubt of her in-

INTRODUCTION. ix

nocence ; and her husband had been a zealous promoter of
the prosecutions. This accusation brought a new light on
the mind of Mr. Hale, who became convinced of the in-
justice in which he had been made an accomplice ; but the
other ministers who took the lead in the proceedings were
less willing to believe in their own error ; and equally con-
vinced of the innocence of Mrs. Hale, they raised a ques-
tion of conscience, whether the devil could not assume the
shape of an innocent and pious person, as well as of a wicked
person, for the purpose of afflicting his victims. The as-
sistance of Increase Mather, the president or principal of
Harvard College, was now called in, and he published the
book which is also reprinted in the present volume : "A
Further Account of theTryals of the New England Witches.
.... To which is added Cases of Conscience concerning
Witchcrafts and Evil Spirits personating Men." It will be
seen that the greater part of the " Cases of Conscience" is
given to the discussion of the question just alluded to, which
Increase Mather unhesitatingly decides in the affirmative.
The scene of agitation was now removed from Salem to
Andover, where a great number of persons were accused
of witchcraft and thrown into prison, until a justice of the
peace named Bradstreet, to whom the accusers applied for
warrants, refused to grant any more. Hereupon they
cried out upon Bradstreet, and declared that he had killed
nine persons by means of witchcraft ; and he was so much
alarmed that he fled from the place. The accusers aimed
at people in higher positions in society, until at last they
had the audacity to cry out upon the lady of governor
Phipps himself, and thus lost whatever countenance he had

x INTRODUCTION.

given to their proceedings out of respect to the two Mathers.
Other people of character, when they were attacked by the
accusers, took energetic measures in self-defence. A gen-
tleman of Boston, when " cried out upon," obtained a writ
of arrest against his accusers on a charge of defamation,
and laid the damages at a thousand pounds. The accusers
themselves now took fright, and many who had made con-
fessions retracted them, while the accusations themselves
fell into discredit. . When governor Phipps was recalled
in April, 1693, and left for England, the witchcraft agita-
tion had nearly subsided, and people in general had become
convinced of their error and lamented it.

But Cotton Mather and his father persisted obstinately
in the opinions they had published, and looked upon the
reactionary feeling as a triumph of Satan and his kingdom.
In the course of the year they had an opportunity of re-
asserting their belief in the doings of the witches of Salem.
A girl of Boston, named Margaret Rule, was seized with
convulsions, in the course of which she pretended to see
the " shapes " or spectres of people exactly as they were
alleged to have been seen by the witch-accusers at Salem
and Andover. This occurred on the 10th of September,
1693 ; and she was immediately visited by Cotton Mather,
who examined her, and declared his conviction of the truth
of her statements. Had it depended only upon him, a
new and no doubt equally bitter persecution of witches
would have been raised in Boston ; but an influential
merchant of that town, named Robert Calef, took the mat-
ter up in a different spirit, and also examined Margaret
Rule, and satisfied himself that the whole was a delusion or

INTRODUCTION xi

imposture. Calef wrote a rational account of the events
of these two years, 1692 and 1693, exposing the delusion,
and controverting the opinions of the two Mathers on the
subject of witchcraft, which was published under the title of
" More Wonders of the Invisible World ; or the Wonders
of the Invisible world displayed in five parts. An Account
of the Sufferings of Margaret Rule collected by Robert
Calef, merchant of Boston in New England." The par-
tisans of the Mathers displayed their hostility to this book
by publicly burning it ; and the Mathers themselves kept
up the feeling so strongly that years afterwards, when
Samuel Mather, the son of Cotton, wrote his father's life,
he says sneeringly of Calef: "There was a certain dis-
believer in Witchcraft who wrote against this book " (his
father's 'Wonders of the Invisible World'), "but as the
man is dead, his book died long before him." Calef died
in 1720.

The witchcraft delusion had, however, been sufficiently
dispelled to prevent the recurrence of any other such per-
secutions ; and those who still insisted on their truth were
restrained to the comparatively harmless publication and
defence of their opinions. The people of Salem were
humbled and repentant. They deserted their minister,
Mr. Paris, with whom the persecution had begun, and
were not satisfied until they had driven him away from the
place. Their remorse continued through several years,
and most of the people concerned in the judicial proceed-
ings proclaimed their regret. The jurors signed a paper
expressing their repentance, and pleading that they had
laboured under a delusion. What ought to have been con-

xii INTRODUCTION.

sidered still more conclusive, many of those who had con-
fessed themselves witches, and had been instrumental in
accusing others, retracted all they had said, and confessed
that they had acted under the influence of terror. Yet the
vanity of superior intelligence and knowledge was so great
in the two Mathers that they resisted all conviction. In his
Magnalia, an ecclesiastical history of New England, pub-
lished in 1 700, Cotton Mather repeats his original view of the
doings of Satan in Salem, showing no regret for the part
he had taken in this affair, and making no retraction of
any of his opinions. Still later, in 1723, he repeats them
again in the same strain in the chapter of the " Reinark-
ables " of his father entitled " Troubles from the Invisible
World." His father, Increase Mather, had died in that
same year at an advanced age, being in his eighty-fifth
year. Cotton Mather died on the 13th of February, 1728.
Whatever we may think of the credulity of these two
ecclesiastics, there can be no ground for charging them
with acting otherwise than conscientiously, and they had
claims on the gratitude of their countrymen sufficient to
overbalance their error of judgment on this occasion.
Their books relating to the terrible witchcraft delusion at
Salem have now become very rare in the original edi-
tions, and their interest, as remarkable monuments of the
history of superstition, makes them well worthy of a reprint.

THE CONTENTS.

HE WONDERS OF THE INVISIBLE WORLD :— Page

The Author's Defence 3

Letter from Mr. William Stoughton .... 6

Enchantments encountered 9

An Abstract of Mr. Perkins's Way for the Dis-
covery of Witches 30

The Sum of Mr. Guides Judgment about the Detection

of Witches 33

A DISCOURSE ON THE WONDERS OF THE INVISIBLE

WORLD 38

An Hortatory and Necessary Address, to a Country now

Extraordinarily Alarum'd by the Wrath of the Devil 79

A Narrative of an Apparition which a Gentleman in Boston

had of his Brother, just then murthered in London . 107

A Modern instance of Witches discovered and condemned
in a Tryal, before that celebrated Judge, Sir Matthew
Hale Ill

The Tryal of G. B. at a Court of Oyer and Terminer, held

in Salem, 1692 120

The Tryal of Bridget Bishop, alias Oliver, at the Court of

Oyer and Terminer, held at Salem, June 2, 1692 . . 129

The Tryal of Susanna Martin, at the Court of Oyer and
Terminer, held by Adjournment at Salem, June 29,
1692 138

The Tryal of Elizabeth How, at the Court of Oyer and Ter-
miner, held by Adjournment at Salem, June 30, 1692 149

The Tryal of Martha Carrier, at the Court of Oyer and Ter-
miner, held by Adjournment at Salem, August 2, 1692 154

A Relation of a Few of the Matchless Curiosities which the

Witchcraft presented 159

The First Curiositie 159

The Second Curiositie 161

The Third Curiositie 164

The Fourth Curiositie 165

Testimony of Mr. William Stoughtonsmd Mr. Samuel Sewall 167

xiv CONTENTS.

A DISCOURSE ON THE WONDERS OF THE INVISIBLE Page
WORLD : —

Extracts from Dr. Horneck showing the Similarity in the
Circumstances attending the Witchcraft in New-Eng-
land and that in Sweedland 167

Matter omitted in the Tryals 172

THE DEVIL DISCOVERED 172

Case proposed, What are those Usual Methods of Tempta-
tion with which the Powers of Darkness do assault the

Children of Men ? 174

Remarks upon the Three Remarkable Assaults of Tempta-
tions which the Devil visibly made upon our Lord . 175

The First Temptation 175

The Second Temptation 183

The Third Temptation 192

A FURTHER ACCOUNT OF THE TRYALS OF THE NEW-
ENGLAND WITCHES : —

A True Narrative, collected by Deodat Lawson, relating to
Sundry Persons afflicted by Witchcraft, from the 19th
of March to the 5th of April, 1692 201

Remarks of Things more than Ordinary about the Afflicted

Persons 211

Remarks concerning the Accused 212

A Further Account of the Tryals of the New-England
Witches, sent in a Letter from thence to a Gentleman
in London 214

CASES OF CONSCIENCE CONCERNING EVIL SPIRITS

PERSONATING MEN, ETC. :—
An Address to the Christian Reader by Fourteen Influential

Gentlemen 221

CASES OF CONSCIENCE CONCERNING WITCHCRAFTS . 225
The First Case proposed, Whether or not may Satan appear
in the Shape of an Innocent and Pious, as well as of a
Nocent and Wicked Person, to afflict such as suffer by

Diabolical Molestation ? 225

The Affirmative proved from Six Arguments : —

1. From Several Scriptures 225

2. Because it is possible for the Devil, in the Shape of

Innocent Persons, to do other Mischiefs, proved by
many Instances 234

3. Because if Satan may not represent an Innocent Per-

son as afflicting others, it must be either because he
wants will or power to do this, or because God will
never permit him so to do it ; either of which may
be affirmed , 237

CONTENTS. xv

CASES OF CONSCIENCE CONCERNING WITCHCRAFTS : — Pas«

4. It is certain, both from Scripture and History, that

Magicians by their Inchantmeuts and Hellish Con-
jurations may cause a False Representation of Per-
sons and Things 243

5. From the concurring Judgment of many Learned and

Judicious Men 250

6. Our own Experience has confirmed the Truth of what

we affirm . . . 253

The Second Case considered, viz., If one bewitched be cast
down with the look or cast of the Eye of another Per-
son, and after that recovered again by a Touch from
the. same Person, is not this an infallible Proof that the
party accused and complained of is in Covenant with

the Devil ? 255

A rwi wer.This may be Ground of Suspicion and Examination,

but not of Conviction 255

The Judgment of Mr. Bernard and of Dr. Cotta produced 256
Several Things offered against the Infallibility of this
Proof :--

1. "Pis possible that the Persons in question may be pos-

sessed with Evil Spirits. Signs of such .... 258

2. Falling down with the Cast of the Eye proceeds not

from a natural, but an arbitrary Cause .... 260

3. .That of the bewitched Persons being recovered with

a Touch is various and fallible 262

4. There are that question the Lawfulness of the Ex-

periment 264

5. The Testimony of Bewitched 6r Possessed Persons

is no Evidence as to what they see concerning
others, and therefore not as to themselves . . . 266

6. Bewitched Persons have sometimes been struck

down with the Look of Dogs ...'... 267

7. If this were an Infallible Proof, there would be dif-

ficulty in discovering Witches 268

8. Nothing can be produced out of the Word of God

to shew, that this is any Proof of Witchcraft . . 268

9. Antipathies in Nature have Strange and Unaccount-

able Effects 268

The Third Case considered, Whether there are any Dis-
coveries of Witchcraft, which Jurors and Judges may
with a safe Conscience proceed upon to the Conviction
and Condemnation of the Persons under Suspicion ? . 269
Two things premised : —

1. That the Evidence in the Crime of Witchcraft ought
to be as clear as in any other Crimes of a Capital
Nature 269

XVI

CONTENTS.

CASES OF CONSCIENCE CONCERNING WITCHCRAFTS :— P«g«

2. That there have been ways of Trying Witches long
used, which God never approved of. More particu-
larly that of casting the Suspected Party into the
Water, to try whether they will Sink or Swim. The
Vanity and great Sin which is in that way of Pur-
gation evinced by Six Reasons 270

That there are Proofs for the Conviction of Witches, which
Jurors may with a safe Conscience proceed upon, proved

from Scripture 275

That a Free and Voluntary Confession is a sufficient Ground

of Conviction 276

That the Testimony of confessing Witches against others,

is not so clear an Evidence as against themselves . . 279
That if two Credible Persons shall affirm upon Oath that
they have seen the Person accused doing Things, which
none but such as have familiarity with the Devil, ever
did or can do, that's a sufficient ground of Conviction :

and that this has often happened 282

Mr. Perkins his Solemn Caution to Jurors 283

Postscript 285

Wonders of the Invifible World:

Being an Account of the

T R Y A L S

OF

Lately Exctited in

NEW-ENGLAND:

And of feveral remarkable Curiofcties therein Occurring

Together with,

I. Obfervations upon the Nature, the Number, and the Operations

of the Devils.

II. A fhort Narrative of a late outrage committed by a knot of i

Witches in Swede-Land, very much refembling, and fo far j \
explaining, that under which New-England has laboured.

III. Some Councels directing a due Improvement of the Terrible
things lately done 'by the unufual and amazing Range of EvU>

' New-England.

IV. A brief Difcourfe upon thofe Temptation* which are the more
ordinary Devices of Satan.

By COTTON' MOTHER.

Publifhed by the Special Command of his EXCELLENCY the Go-
venour of the Province of the MaJfycbuJctts-Bay in N?w-

j Printed firft, at Boftufzin Ne<iv- England \ and Reprinted at
London, for John bunion, at the Raven in the Poultry. 1693.

THE AUTHOR'S DEFENCE.

[IS, as I remember, the Learned Scribonius,
who reports, That one of his Acquaintance,
devoutly making his Prayers on the behalf
of a Person molested by Evil Spirits, re-
ceived from those JSvil Spirits an horrible Blow over the
Face : And I may my self expect not few or small Buffet-
ings from Evil Spirits, for the Endeavours wherewith I am
now going to encounter them. I am far from insensible,
that at this extraordinary Time of the Devils coming down
in great Wrath upon us, there are too many Tongues
and Hearts thereby set on fire of Hell; that the various
Opinions about the Witchcrafts which of later time have
troubled us, are maintained by some with so much cloudy
Fury, as if they could never be sufficiently stated, unless
written in the Liquor wherewith Witches use to write their
Covenants ; and that he who becomes an Author at such
a time, had need be fenced with Iron, and the Staff of a
Spear. The unaccountable Frowardness, Asperity, Un-
treatableness, and Inconsistency of many Persons, every
Day gives a visible Exposition of that passage, An evil
spirit from the Lord came upon Saul; and Illustration of

4 THE AUTHOR'S DEFENCE.

that Story, There met him two possessed with Devils, ex-
ceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way.
To send abroad a Book, among such Readers, were a very
unadvised thing, if a Man had not such Reasons to give,
as I can bring, for such an Undertaking. Briefly, I hope
it cannot be said, They are all so: No, I hope the Body
of this People, are yet in such a Temper, as to be capable
of applying their Thoughts, to make a Right Use of the
stupendous and prodigious Things that are happening
among us : And because I was concerned, when I saw that
no abler Hand emitted any Essays to engage the Minds of
this People, in such holy, pious, fruitful Improvements, as
God would have to be made of his amazing Dispensations
now upon us. THEREFORE it is, that One of the Least
among the Children of New-England, has here done, what
is done. None, but the Father, ivho sees in secret, knows
the Heart-breaking Exercises, wherewith I have composed
what is now going to be exposed, lest I should in any one
thing miss of doing my designed Service for his Glory, and
for his People ; but I am now somewhat comfortably
assured of his favourable acceptance; and, I will not fear;
what can a Satan do unto me/

Having performed something of what God required, in
labouring to suit his Words unto his Works, at this Day
among us, and therewithal handled a Theme that has been
sometimes counted not unworthy the Pen, even of a King,
it will easily be perceived, that some subordinate Ends have
been considered in these Endeavours.

I have indeed set myself to countermine the whole PLOT
of the Devil, against New-England, in every branch of it,

THE AUTHOR'S DEFENCE. 5

as far as one of my darkness, can comprehend such a Work
of Darkness. I may add, that I have herein also aimed
at the Information and Satisfaction of Good Men in another
Country, a thousand Leagues off, where I have, it may
be, more, or however, more considerable Friends, than in
my own : And I do what I can to have that Country, now,
as well as always, in the best Terms with my own. But
while I am doing these things, I have been driven a little
to do something likewise for myself; I mean, by taking
off the false Reports, and hard Censures about my Opinion
in these Matters, the Farter's Portions which my pursuit
of Peace has procured me among the Keen. My hitherto
unvaried Thoughts are here published ; and I believe, they
will be owned by most of the Ministers of God in these
Colonies; nor can amends be well made me, for the wrong
done me, by other sorts of Representations.

In fine: For the Dogmatical part of my Discourse, I
want no Defence; for the Historical part of it, I have a
very Great One; the Lieutenant-Governour of Neiv-
England having perused it, has done me the Honour of
giving me a Shield, under the Umbrage whereof I now
dare to walk abroad.

REVEREND AND DEAR SIR,

OU very much gratify' d me, as well as put
a kind ^Respect upon me, when you put into
my hands your elaborate and most season-
able Discourse, entituled, The Wonders of
the Invisible World. And having now perused so fruit-
ful and happy a Composure, upon such a Subject, at this
Juncture of Time ; and considering the place that I hold
in the Court of Oyer and Terminer, still labouring and
proceeding in the Trial of the Persons accused and con-
victed for Witchcraft, I find that I am more nearly and
highly concerned than as a meer ordinary Reader, to ex-
press my Obligation and Thankfulness to you for so great
Pains ; and, cannot but hold myself many ways bound,
even to the utmost of what is proper for me, in my present
publick Capacity, to declare my singular Approbation
thereof. Such is your Design, most plainly expressed
throughout the whole; such your Zeal for God, your
Enmity to Satan and his Kingdom, your Faithfulness and
Compassion to this poor People; such the Vigour, but yet
great Tempe.r of your Spirit; such your Instruction and
Counsel, your Care of Truth, your Wisdom and, Dexterity
in allaying and moderating that among us, which needs

it ; such your clear discerning of Divine Providences and
Periods, now running on apace towards their Glorious
Issues in the World ; and finally, such your good News
of The Shortness of the Devil's Time, that all Good Men
must needs desire, the making of this your Discourse
publick to the World ; and will greatly rejoyce, that the
Spirit of the Lord has thus enabled you to lift up a Stan-
dard against the Infernal Enemy, that hath been coming
in like a Flood upon us. / do therefore make it my par-
ticular and earnest Request unto you, that as soon as may
be, you will commit the same unto the Press accordingly.
I am,

Your assured Friend,

WILLIAM STOUGHTON.

LIVE by Neighbours that force me to produce
these undeserved Lines. But now, as when Mr.
Wilson beholding a great Muster of Souldiers,
had it by a Gentleman then present, said unto him, Sir,
ril tell you a great Thing: Here is a mighty Body of
People ; and there is not Seven of them all, but what loves
Mr. Wilson. That gracious Man presently and pleasantly
reply'd: Sir, I'll tell you as good a thing as that; here is
a mighty Body of People, and there is not so much as
One among them all, but Mr. Wilson loves him. Some-
what so : Tis possible, that among this Body of People,
there may be few that love the Writer of this Book ; but
give me leave to boast so far, there is not one among all
this Body of People, whom this Mather would not study to
serve, as well as to love. With such a Spirit of Love, is
the Book now before us written : I appeal to all this World;
and if this World will deny me the Eight of acknowledging
so much, I appeal to the other, that it is not written with
an Evil Spirit: for which cause I shall not wonder, if Evil
Spirits be exasperated by what is written, as the Sadduces
doubtless were with what was discoursed in the Days of our
Saviour. I only demand the Justice, that others read it,
with the same Spirit wherewith I writ it.

ENCHANTMENTS ENCOUNTEKED.

SECTION I.

[T was as long ago, as the Year 1637, that a
Faithful Minister of the Church of England,
whose Name was Mr. Edward Symons, did
in a Sermon afterwards Printed, thus express
himself ; * At New-England now the Sun of Comfort be-
' gins to appear, and the glorious Day-Star to show it-
' self; — Sed Venient Annis Sceculce Seris, there will come
' Times in after Ages, when the Clouds will over-shadow
' and darken the Sky there. Many now promise to them-
1 selves nothing but successive Happiness there, which for
' a time through God's Mercy they may enjoy ; and I pray
{ God, they may a long time ; but in this World there is
' no Happiness perpetual.' An Observation, or I had
almost said, an Inspiration, very dismally now verify 'd upon
us ! It has been affirm'd by some who best knew New-
England, That the World will do New-England a great
piece of Injustice, if it acknowledge not a measure of Re-
ligion, Loyalty, Honesty, and Industry, in the People there,

10 ENCHANTMENTS

beyond what is to be found with any other People for the
Number of them. When I did a few years ago, publish a
Book, which mentioned a few memorable Witchcrafts,
committed in this country ; the excellent Baxter, graced
the Second Edition of that Book, with a kind Preface,
wherein he sees cause to say, If any are Scandalized,
tJutt New-England, a place of as serious Piety, as any I
can hear of, under Heaven, should be troubled so much with
Witches ; I think, 'tis no wonder : Where vjill the Devil
shoio most Malice, but where he is hated, and hateth most :
And I hope, the Country will still deserve and answer the
Charity so expressed by that Reverend Man of God. Who-
soever travels over this Wilderness, will see it richly be-
spangled with Evangelical Churches, whose Pastors are
holy, able, and painful Overseers of their Flocks, lively
Preachers, and vertuous Livers; and such as in their several
Neighbourly Associations, have had their Meetings whereat
Ecclesiastical Matters of common Concernment are con-
sidered : Churches, whose Communicants have been seriously
examined about their Experiences of Regeneration, as well
as about their Knowledge, and Belief, and blameless Con-
versation, before their admission to the Sacred Communion ;
although others of less but hopeful Attainments in Chris-
tianity are not ordinarily deny'd Baptism for themselves
and theirs ; Churches, which are shye of using any thing
in the Worship of God, for which they cannot see a Warrant
of God ; but with whom yet the Names of Congregational,
Presbyterian, Episcopalian, or Antipoedobaptist, are swal-
lowed up in that of Christian ; Persons of all those Per-
swasions being taken into our Fellowship, when visible

ENCOUNTERED. 11

Goodliness has recommended them : Churches, which
usually do within themselves manage their own Discipline,
under the Conduct of their Elders ; but yet call in the help
of Synods upon Emergencies, or Aggrievances : Churches,
Lastly, wherein Multitudes are growing ripe for Heaven
every day ; and as fast as these are taken off, others are
daily rising up. And by the Presence and Power of the
Divine Institutions thus maintained in the Country. We
are still so happy, that I suppose there is no Land in the
Universe more free from the debauching, and the debasing
Vices of Ungodliness. The Body of the People are
hitherto so disposed, that Swearing, Sabbath-breaking,
Whoring, Drunkenness, and the like, do not make a Gentle-
man, but a Monster, or a Goblin, in the vulgar Estimation.
All this notwithstanding, we must humbly confess to our
God, that we are miserably degenerated from the first Love
of our Predecessors ; however we boast our selves a little,
when Men would go to trample upon us, and we venture
to say, Wherein soever any is bold (we speak foolishly) ive
are bold also. The first Planters of these Colonies were
a chosen Generation of Men, who were first so pure, as to
disrelish many things which they thought wanted Refor-
mation elsewhere ; and yet withal so peaceable, that they
embraced a voluntary Exile in a squalid, horrid, American
Desart, rather than to live in Contentions with their Brethren.
Those good Men imagined that they should leave their
Posterity in a place, where they should never see the Inroads
of Profanity, or Superstition : And a famous Person re-
turning hence, could in a Sermon before the Parliament,
profess, / have noiv been seven Years in a Country, ivhere

12 ENCHANTMENTS

I never saiv one Man drunk, or heard one Oath sworn, or
beheld one Beggar in the Streets all the while. Such great
Persons as Budceus, and others, who mistook Sir Thomas
Moor's UTOPIA, for a Country really existent, and stirr'd
up some Divines charitably to undertake a Voyage thither,
might now have certainly found a Truth in their Mistake ;
New- England was a true Utopia. But, alas, the Children
and Servants of those old Planters must needs afford many,
degenerate Plants, and there is now risen up a Number of
People, otherwise inclined than our Joshua's, and the
Elders that out-liv'd them. Those two things our holy
Progenitors, and our happy Advantages make Omissions
of Duty, and such Spiritual Disorders as the whole World
abroad is overwhelmed with, to be as provoking in us, as
the most flagitious Wickednesses committed in other places ;
and the Ministers of God are accordingly severe in their
Testimonies : But in short, those Interests of the Gospel,
which were the Errand of our Fathers into these Ends of
the Earth, have been too much neglected and postponed,
and the Attainments of an handsome Education, have been
too much undervalued, by Multitudes that have not fallen
into Exorbitances of Wickedness ; and some, especially of
our young Ones, when they have got abroad from under
the Restraints here laid upon them, have become extrava-
gantly and abominably Vicious. Hence 'tis, that the
Happiness of New-England has been but for a time, as it
was foretold, and not for a long time, as has been desir'd
for us. A Variety of Calamity has long follow'd this
Plantation ; and we have all the Reason imaginable to
ascribe it unto the Rebuke of Heaven upon us for our

ENCOUNTERED. 13

manifold Apostasies; we make no right use of our Disasters :
If we do not, Remember whence we are fallen, and repent,
and do the first works. But yet our Afflictions may come
under a further Consideration with us : There is a further
Cause of our Afflictions, whose due must be given him.

§ II. The New-Englanders are a People of God settled
in those, which were once the Devil's Territories ; and it
may easily be supposed that the Devil was exceedingly
disturbed, when he perceived such a People here accom-
plishing the Promise of old made unto our Blessed Jesus,
That He should have the Utmost parts of the Earth for his
Possession. There was not a greater Uproar among the
Ephesians, when the Gospel was first brought among them,
than there was among, The Powers of the Air (after whom
those Ephesians walked) when first the Silver Trumpets
of the Gospel here made the Joyful Sound. The Devil
thus Irritated, immediately try'd all sorts of Methods to
overturn this poor Plantation : and so much of the Church,
as was Fled into this Wilderness, immediately found, The
Serpent cast out of his Mouth a Flood for the carrying of
it away. I believe, that never were more Satanical De-
vices used for the Unsetling of any People under the Sun,
than what have been Employ'd for the Extirpation of the
Vine which God has here Planted, Casting out the Heathen,
and preparing a Room before it, and causing it to take,
deep Root, and fill the Land, so that it sent its Boughs
unto the Atlantic Sea Eastward, and its Branches unto the
Connecticut River Westward, and the Hills were covered
with the shadow thereof. But, All those Attempts of Hell,

14 ENCHANTMENTS

have hitherto been Abortive, many an Ebenezer has been
Erected unto the Praise of God, by his Poor People here ;
and, Having obtained Help from, God, we continue to this
Day. Wherefore the Devil is now making one Attempt
more upon us ; an Attempt more Difficult, more Surprizing,
more snarl'd with unintelligible Circumstances than any
that we have hitherto Encoimtred ; an Attempt so Critical,
that if we get well through, we shall soon enjoy Halcyon Days
with all the Vultures of Hell Trodden under our Feet. He
has wanted his Incarnate Legions to Persecute us, as the
People of God have in the other Hemisphere been Perse-
cuted : he has therefore drawn forth his more Spiritual
ones to make an Attacque upon us. We have been advised
by some Credible Christians yet alive, that a Malefactor,
accused of Witchcraft as well as Murder, and Executed in
this place more than Forty Years ago, did then give Notice
of, An Horrible PLOT against the Country by WITCHCRAFT,
and a Foundation of WITCHCKAFT then laid, which if it
were not seasonably discovered, would probably Blow up,
and pufl doivn all the Churches in the Country. And we
have now with Horror seen the Discovery of such a Witch-
craft! An Army of Devils is horribly broke in upon the
place which is the Center, and after a sort, the First-lorn
of our English Settlements : and the Houses of the Good
People there are fill'd with the doleful Shrieks of their
Children and Servants, Tormented by Invisible Hands,
with Tortures altogether preternatural. After the Mischiefs
there Endeavoured, and since in part Conquered, the
terrible Plague, of Evil Angels, hath made its Progress into
some other places, where other Persons have been in like

ENCOUNTERED. 15

tnanner Diabolically handled. These our poor Afflicted
Neighbours, quickly after they become Infected and In-
fested with these Daemons, arrive to a Capacity of Discern-
ing those which they conceive ihe Shapes of their Troublers ;
and notwithstanding the Great and Just Suspicion, that
the Dcemons might Impose the Shapes of Innocent Persons
in their Spectral Exhibitions upon the Sufferers, (which
may perhaps prove no small part of the Witch-Plot in the
issue) yet many of the Persons thus Represented, being
Examined, several of them have been Convicted of a very
Damnable Witchcraft : yea, more than One Tiventy have
Confessed, that they have Signed unto a Book, which the
Devil show'd them, and Engaged in his Hellish Design of
Bewitching, and Ruining our Land. We know not, at
least / know not, how far the Delusions of Satan may be
Interwoven into some Circumstances of the Confessions ;
but one would think, all the Rules of Understanding
Humane Affairs are at an end, if after so many most Vol-
untary Harmonious Confessions, made by Intelligent
Persons of all Ages, in sundry Towns, at several Times,
we must not Believe the main strokes wherein those Con-
fessions all agree : especially when we have a thousand
preternatural Things every day before our eyes, wherein the
Confessors do acknowledge their Concernment, and give
Demonstration of their being so Concerned. If the Devils
now can strike the minds of men with any Poisons of so
fine a Composition and Operation, that Scores of Innocent
People shall Unite, in Confessions of a Crime, which we
see actually committed, it is a thing prodigious, beyond the
Wonders of the former Ages, and it threatens no less than

16 ENCHANTMENTS

a sort of a Dissolution upon the World. Now, by these
Confessions 'tis Agreed, That the Devil has made a dread-
ful Knot of Witches in the Country, and by the help of
Witches has dreadfully increased that Knot : That these
Witches have driven a Trade of Commissioning their Con-
federate Spirits, to do all sorts of Mischiefs to the Neighbours,
whereupon there have ensued such Mischievous conse-
quences upon the Bodies and Estates of the Neighbourhood,
as could not otherwise be accounted for : yea, That at
prodigious Witch-Meetings, the Wretches have proceeded
ao far, as to Concert and Consult the Methods of Rooting
out the Christian Religion from this Country, and setting
up instead of it, perhaps a more gross Diabolism, than ever
the World saw before. And yet it will be a thing little short
of Miracle, if in so spread a Business as this, the Devil
should not get in some of his Juggles, to confound the
Discovery of all the rest.

§ III. Doubtless, the Thoughts of many will receive a
great Scandal against New- England, from the Number of
Persons that have been Accused, or Suspected, for Witch-
craft, in this Country : But it were easie to offer many
things, that may Answer and Abate the Scandal. If the
Holy God should any where permit the Devils to hook two
or three wicked Scholars into Witchcraft, and then by
their Assistance to Range with their Poisonous Insinuations
among Ignorant, Envious, Discontented People, till they
have cunningly decoy 'd them into some sudden Act,
whereby the Toyls of Hell shall be perhaps inextricably cast
over them : what Country in the World would not afford

ENCOUNTERED, 17

Witches, numerous to a Prodigy 1 Accordingly, The King-
doms of Sweden, Denmark, Scotland, yea and England it
self, as well as the Province of New-England, have had
their Storms of Witchcrafts breaking upon them, which
have made most Lamentable Devastations : which also I
wish, may be The Last. And it is not uneasie to be
imagined, That God has not brought out all the Witchcrafts
in many other Lands with such a speedy, dreadful, de-
stroying Jealousie, as burns forth upon such High Treasons,
committed here in A Land of Uprightness : Transgressors
may more quickly here than elsewhere become a Prey to the
Vengeance of Him, Who has Eyes like a Flame of Fire,
and, u'ho walks in the midst of the Golden Candlesticks.
Moreover, There are many parts of the World, who if they
do upon this Occasion insult over this People of God, need
only to be told the Story of what happened at Loim, in the
Dutchy of Gulic, where a Popish Curate having ineffectu-
ally try'd many Charms to Eject the Devil out of a Damsel
there possessed, he passionately bid the Devil come out of
her into himself; but the Devil answered him, Quidmihi
Opus, est eum tentare, quem Novissimo die, Jure Optimo,
sum possessurus ? That is, What need I meddle with one
whom I am sure to have, and hold at the Last-day as my
own for ever !

But besides all this, give me leave to add, it is to be
hoped, That among the Persons represented by the Spectres
which now afflict our Neighbours, there will be found some
that never explicitly contracted with any of the Evil Angels.
The Witches have not only intimated, but some of them
acknowledge, That they have plotted the Representations

18 ENCHANTMENTS

of Innocent Persons, to cover and shelter themselves in
their Witchcrafts ; now, altho' our good God has hitherto
generally preserved us from the Abuse therein design'd by
the Devils for us, yet who of us can exactly state, How far
our God may for our CJtastisement permit the Devil to
proceed in such an Abuse? It was the Result of a Discourse,
lately held at a Meeting of some very Pious and Learned
Ministers among us, That the Devils may sometimes have
apermission to Represent an Innocent Person, as Torment^
ing such as are under Diabolical Molestations : But that
such things are Rare and Extraordinary; especially ivhen
such matters come before Civil Judicature. The Opinion
expressed with so much Caution and Judgment, seems to
be the prevailing Sense of many others, who are men
Eminently Cautious and Judicious ; and have both Argu-
ment and History to Countenance them in it. It is Rare
and Extraordinary, for an Honest Naboth to have his
Life it self Sworn away by two Children of Belial, and yet
no Infringement hereby made on theRectoral Righteousness
of our Eternal Soveraign, whose Judgments are a Great
Deep, and who gives none Account of His matters. Thus,
although the Appearance of Innocent Persons in Spectral
Exhibitions afflicting the Neighbour-hood, be a thing Rare
and Extraordinary ; yet who can be sure, that the great
Bdialtf Hell must needs be always Yoked up from this piece
of Mischief 1 The best man that ever lived has been called a
Witch: and why may not this too usual and unhappy
Symptom of A Witch, even a Spectral Representation,
befall a person that shall be none of the worst ? Is it not
possible 1 The Laplanders will tell us 'tis possible : for

ENCOUNTERED. 19

Persons to be unwittingly attended with officious Damons,
bequeathed unto them, and impos'd upon them, by Relations
that have been Witches. Qucery, also, Whether at a Time,
when the Devil with his Witches are engag'd in a War
upon a people, some certain steps of ours, in such a War,
may not be followed with our appearing so and so for a
while among them in the Visions of our afflicted Forloms/
And, Who can certainly say, what other Degrees or Me-
thods of sinning, besides that of a Diabolical Compact, may
give the Devils advantage to act in the Shape of them
that have miscarried ? Besides what may happen for a
while, to try the Patience of the Vertuous. May not some
that have been ready upon feeble grounds uncharitably to
Censure and Reproach other people, be punished for it
by Spectres for a while exposing them to Censure and
Reproach 1 And furthermore, I pray, that it may be con-
sidered, Whether a World of Magical Tricks often used
in the World, may not insensibly oblige Devils to wait
upon the Superstitious Users of them. A Witty Writer
against Sadducism has this Observation, That persons
who never made any express Contract with Apostate
Spirits, yet may Act strange Things by Diabolick Aids
which they procure by the use of those wicked Forms
and Arts, that the Devil first imparted unto his Con-
federates. And he adds, We knew not but the Laivs of
tlie. Dark Kingdom may Enjoy n a particular Attendance
upon all those that practice their Mysteries, whether they
knoiv them to be theirs or no. Some of them that have
been cry'd out upon a imploying Evil Spirits to hurt our
Land, have been known to be most Woody Fortwu-Tfllert;

20 ENCHANTMENTS

and some of them have confessed, That when they told
Fortunes, they would pretend the Rules of Chiromancy
and the like Ignorant Sciences, but indeed they had no
Rule (they said) but this, The things ivere then Darted
into their minds. Darted ! Ye Wretches ; By whom, I
pray ? Surely by none but the Devils ; who, tho' perhaps
they did not exactly Foreknow all the thus Predicted Con-
tingencies ; yet having once Foretold them, they stood
bound in Honour now to use their Interest, which alas, in
This World, is very great, for the Accomplishment of their
own Predictions. There are others, that have used most
wicked Sorceries to gratifie their unlawful Curiosities, or to
prevent Inconveniences in Man and Beast ; Sorceries,
which I will not Name, lest I should by Naming, Teach
them. Now, some Devil is evermore invited into the
Service of the Person that shall Practice these Witchcrafts;
and if they have gone on Impenitently in these Communions
with any Devil, the Devil may perhaps become at last a
Familiar to them, and so assume their Livery, that they
cannot shake him off in any way, but that One, which I
would most heartily prescribe unto them, Namely, That of
a deep and long Repentance. Should these Impieties have
been committed in such a place as New-England, for my
part I should not wonder, if when Devils are Exposing the
Grosser Witches among us, God permit them to bring in
these Lesser ones with the rest for their perpetual Humili-
ation. In the Issue therefore, may it not be found, that
New-England is not so stock'd with Rattle Snakes, as was
imagined.

§ IV. But I do not believe, that the progress of Witch-

ENCOUNTERED. 21

craft amongus, is all the Plot which the Devil is managing in
the Witelwraft now upon us. It is judged, That the Devil
rais'd the Storm, whereof we read in the Eighth Chapter
of Matthew, on purpose to over-set the little Vessel wherein
the Disciples of Our Lord were Embarqued with Him.
,And it may be fear'd, that in the Horrible Tempest which
is now upon ourselves, the design of the Devil is to sink that
Happy Settlement of Government, wherewith Almighty God
has graciously enclined Their Majesties to favour us. We
are blessed with a GOVERNOUR, than whom no man can
be more willing to serve Their Majesties, or this their Pro-
vince : He is continually venturing his All to do it : and
were not the Interests of his Prince dearer to him than his
own, he could not but soon be weary of the Helm, whereat
he sits. We are under the Influence of a LIEUTENANT
GOVERNOUR, who not only by being admirably accomplished
both with Natural and Acquired Endowments, is fitted for
the Service of Their Majesties, but also with an unspotted
Fidelity applies himself to that Service. Our COUNCEL-
LOURS are some of our most Eminent Persons, and as
Loyal Subjects to the Crown, as hearty lovers of their
Country. Our Constitution also is attended with singular
Priviledges ; All which Things are by the Devil exceedingly
Envy'd unto us. And the Devil will doubtless take this occa-
sion for the raising of such complaints and clamours, as may
be of pernicious consequence unto some part of our present
Settlement, if he can so far Impose. But that which most
of all Threatens us, in our present Circumstances, is the
Misunderstanding, and so the Animosity, whereinto the
Witchcraft now Raging, has Enchanted us. The Em-

22 ENCHANTMENTS

broiling, first, of our Spirits, and then of our A/airs, is
evidently as considerable a Branch of the Hellish Intrigue
which now vexes us as any one Thing whatsoever. The
Devil has made us like a Troubled Sea, and the Mire and
Mud begins now also to heave up apace. Even Good and
Wise Men suffer themselves to fall into their Paroxysms ;
and the Shake which the Devil is now giving us, fetches
up the Dirt which before lay still at the bottom of our
sinful Hearts. If we allow the Mad Dogs of Hell to poyson
us by biting us, we shall imagine that we see nothing but
such things about us, and like such things fly upon all that
we see. Were it not for what is IN us, for my part, I
should not fear a thousand Legions of Devils : 'tis by our
Quarrels that we spoil our Prayers ; and if our humble,
zealous, and united Prayers are once hindred : Alas, the
Philistines, of Hell have cut our Locks for us ; they will
then blind us, mock us, ruine us : In truth, I cannot alto-
gether blame it, if People are a little transported, when
they conceive all the secular Interests of themselves and
their Families at the Stake ; and yet at the sight of these
Heartburnings, I cannot forbear the Exclamation of the
Sweet-spirited ^4 ws^m, in his Pacificatory Epistle to Jerom,
on the Contest with Ruffin, 0 miser a & miser -anda Conditio !

0 Condition, truly miserable ! But what shall be done to
cure these Distractions ? It is wonderfully necessary, that
some healing Attempts be made at this time : And I must
needs confess (if I may speak so much) like a Nazianzen,

1 am so desirous of a share in them, that if, being thrown
overboard, were needful to allay the Storm, I should think
Dying a Trifle to be undergone, for so great a Blessedness.

ENCOUNTERED. 23

§ V. I would most importunately in the first place,
entreat every Man to maintain an holy Jealousie over his
Soul at this time, and think ; May not the Devil make me,
though ignorantly and umvillingly, to be an Instrument
of doing something that he would have to be done ? For
my part, I freely own my Suspicion, lest something of
Enchantment, have reach'd more Persons and Spirits among
us, than we are well aware of. But then, let us more
generally agree to maintain a kind Opinion one of another.
That Charity without which, even our giving our Bodies to
be burned would profit nothing, uses to proceed by this
Rule ; It is kind, it is not easily provok'd, it thinks no Evil,
it believes all things, hopes all things. But if we disregard
this Rule of Charity, we shall indeed give our Body Poli-
tick to be burned. I have heard it affirmed, That in the
late great Flood upon Connecticut, those Creatures which
could not but have quarrelled at another time, yet now being
driven together, very agreeably stood by one another. I
am sure we shall be worse than Brutes if we fly upon one
another at a time when the Floods of Belial make us afraid.
On the one side; [Alas, my Pen, must thou write the
word, Side in the Business ?] There are very worthy Men,
who having been call'd by God, when and where this
Witchcraft first appeared upon the Stage to encounter it,
are earnestly desirous to have it sifted unto the bottom of
it. And I pray, which of us all that should live under the
continual Impressions of the Tortures, Outcries, and Ha-
vocks which Devils confessedly Commissioned by Witches
make among their distressed Neighbours, would not have
a Biass that way beyond other Men 1 Persons this way

24 tiNCHA NT ME NTS

disposed have been Men eminent for Wisdom and Vertue,
and Men acted by a noble Principle of Conscience : Had
not Conscience (of duty to God) prevailed above other
Considerations with them, they would not for all they are
worth in the World have medled in this Thorny business.
Have there been any disputed Methods used in discovering
the Works of Darkness ? It may be none but what have
had great Presedents in other parts of the World ; which
may, though not altogether justifie, yet much alleviate a
Mistake in us if there should happen to be found any such
mistake in so dark a Matter. They have done what they
have done, with multiplied Addresses to God for his Guidance,
and have not been insensible how much they have exposed
themselves in what they have done. Yea, they would
gladly contrive and receive an expedient, how the shedding
of Blood, might be spared, by the Recovery of Witches,
not gone beyond the Reach of Pardon. And after all,
they invite all good Men, in Terms to this purpose, 'Be-
* ing amazed at the Number and Quality of those accused
1 of late, we do not know but Satan by his Wiles may have
' enwrapped some innocent Persons ; and therefore should
'earnestly and humbly desire the most Critical Enquiry
'upon the place, to find out the Falacy; that there may
' be none of the Servants of the Lord, with the Worshippers
' of Baal.' I may also add, That whereas, if once a Witch
do ingeniously confess among us, no more Spectres do in
their Shapes after this, trouble the Vicinage ; if any guilty
Creatures will accordingly to so good purpose confess their
Crime to any Minister of God, and get out of the Snare
of the Devil, as no Minister will discover such a Conscien-

ENCOUNTERED. 25

tious Confession, so I believe none in the Authority will
press him to discover it ; but rejoyc'd in a Soul sav'd from
Death. On the other side [if I must again use the word
Side, which yet I hope to live to blot out] there are very
worthy Men, who are not a little dissatisfied at the Pro-
ceedings in the Prosecution of this Witchcraft. And why?
Not because they would have any such abominable thing,
defended from the Strokes of Impartial Justice. No,
those Reverend Persons who gave in this Advice unto the
Honourable Council ; ' That Presumptions, whereupon

* Persons may be Committed, and much more Convictions,
' whereupon Persons may be Condemned, as guilty of

* Witchcrafts, ought certainly to be more considerable, thun
' barely the Accused Persons being represented by a Spectre
1 unto the Afflicted ; Nor are Alterations made in the
' Sufferers, by a Look or Touch of the Accused, to be
'esteemed an infallible Evidence of Guilt; but frequently
'liable to be abused by the Devils Legerdemains' : I say,
those very Men of God most conscientiously Subjoined this
Article to that Advice, — * Nevertheless we cannot but
' humbly recommend unto the Government, the speedy and
'vigorous Prosecution of such as have rendred thein-
' selves Obnoxious; according to the best Directions given
' in the Laws of God, and the wholsome Statutes of the
' English Nation for the Detection of Witchcraft.' Only
'tis a most commendable Cautiousness, in those gracious
Men, to be very shye lest the Devil get so far into our
Faith, as that for the sake of many Truths which we find
he tells us, we come at length to believe any Lyes, where-
with he may abuse us: whereupon, what a Desolation of

26 ENCHANTMENTS

Names would soon ensue, besides a thousand other pernicious
Consequences? and lest there should be any such Principles
taken up, as when put into Practice must unavoidably
cause the Righteous to perish with the Wicked; or procure
the Bloodshed of any Persons, like the Gibeonites, whom
some learned Men suppose to be under a false Notion of
Witches, by Saul exterminated.

They would have all due steps taken for the Extinction
of Witches ; but they would fain have them to be sure ones ;
nor is it from any thing, but the real and hearty goodness
of such Men, that they are loth to surmise ill of other Men,
till there be the fullest Evidence for the surmises. As for
the Honourable Judges that have been hitherto in the
Commission, they are above my Consideration: wherefore
I will only say thus much of them, That such of them as
I have the Honour of a Personal Acquaintance with, are
Men of an excellent Spirit ; and as at first they went about
the work for which they were Commission'd, with a very
great aversion, so they have still been under Heart-breaking
Sollicitudes, how they might therein best serve both God
and Man. In fine, Have there been faults on any side
fallen into? Surely, they have at worst been but the faults
of a well-meaning Ignorance. On every side then, why
should not we endeavour with amicable Correspondencies,
to help one another out of the Snares wherein the Devil
would involve us? To wrangle the Devil out of the Country,
will be truly a New Experiment : Alas ! we are not aware
of the Devil, if we do not think, that he aims at inflaming
us one against another; and shall we suffer our selves to be
Devil-ridden ? or by any unadvisableness contribute unto
the Widening of our Breaches?

ENCOUNTERED. '21

To say no more, there is a published and credible Rela-
tion; which affirms, That very lately in a part of England,
where some of the Neighbourhood were quarrelling, a
Raven from the top of a tree very articulately and unac-
countably cry'd out, Read tlie Third of Colossians and tfie
Fifteenth! Were I my self to chuse what sort of Bird I
would be transformed into, I would say, 0 that I had winy*
like a Dove! Nevertheless, I will for once do the Office,
which as it seems, Heaven sent that Raven upon ; even to
beg, Tliat the Peace of God may Rule in our Hearts.

§ VI. *Tis necessary that we unite in every thing : but
there are especially two Things wherein our Union must
cany us along together. We are to unite in our En-
deavours to deliver our distressed Neighbours, from the
horrible Annoyances and Molestations with which a dread-
ful Witchcraft is now persecuting of them. To have an
hand in any thing, that may stifle or obstruct a Regular
Detection of that Witchcraft, is what we may well with an
holy fear avoid. Their Majesties good Subjects must not
every day be torn to pieces by horrid Witches, and those
bloody Felons, be left wholly unprosecuted. The Witch-
craft is a business that will not be sham'd, without plunging
us into sore Plagues, and of long continuance. But then
we are to unite in such Methods for this deliverance, as
may be unquestionably safe, lest the latter end be worse
tJian the beginning. And here, what shall I say ? I will
venture to say thus much, That we are safe, when we make
just as much use of all Advice from the invisible World, as
God sends it for. It is a safe Principle, That when God

28 ENCHANTMENTS

Almighty permits any Spirits from the unseen Regions, to
visit us with surprizing Informations, there is then some-
tiling to be enquired after ; we are then to enquire of one
another, What Cause there is for such things 1 The pe-
culiar Government of God, over the unbodied Intelligences,
is a sufficient Foundation for this Principle. When there
lias been a Murder committed, an Apparition of the slain
Party accusing of any Man, altho' such Apparitions have
oftner spoke true than false, is not enough to Convict the
Man as guilty of that Murder; but yet it is a sufficient
occasion for Magistrates to make a particular Enquiry,
whether such a Man have afforded any ground for such an
Accusation. Even so a Spectre exactly resembling such
or such a Person, when the Neighbourhood are tormented
by such Spectres, may reasonably make Magistrates in-
quisitive whether the Person so represented have done or
said any thing that may argue their confederacy with Evil
Spirits, altho' it may be defective enough in point of Con-
viction ; especially at a time, when 'tis possible, some over-
powerful Conjurer may have got the skill of thus exhibiting
the Shapes of all sorts of Persons, on purpose to stop the
Prosecution of the Wretches, whom due Enquiries thus
provoked, might have made obnoxious unto Justice.

Quaere, Whether if God would have us to proceed any
further than bare Enquiry, upon what reports there may
come against any Man, from the World of Spirits, he will
not by his Providence at the same time have brought into
our hands, these more evident and sensible things, where-
upon a man is to be esteemed a Criminal. But I will
venture to say this further, that it will be safe to account

ENCOUNTERED, 29

the Names as well as the Lives of our Neighbors ; two
considerable things to be brought under a Judicial Process,
until it be found by Humane Observations that the Peace of
Mankind is thereby disturbed. We are Humane Creatures,
and we are safe while we say, they must be Humane
Witnesses, who also have in the particular Act of Seeing,
or Hearing, which enables them to be Witnesses, but no
more than Humane Assistances, that are to turn the Scale
when Laws are to be executed. And upon this Head I
will further add : A wise and a just Magistrate, may so
far give way to a common Stream of Dissatisfaction, as to
forbear acting up to the heighth of his own Perswasion,
about what may be judged convictive of a Crime, whose
Nature shall be so abstruse and obscure, as to raise much
Disputation. Tho' he may not do what he should leave un-
done, yet he may leave undone something that else he could
do, when the Publick Safety makes an Exigency.

§ VII. I was going to make one Venture more ; that
is, to offer some safe Rules, for the finding out of the
Witches, which are at this day our accursed Troublers :
but this were a Venture too Presumptuous and Icarian
for me to make ; I leave that unto those Excellent and
Judicious Persons, with whom I am not worthy to be num-
bred : All that I shall do, shall be to lay before my
Readers, a brief Synopsis of what has been written on that
Subject, by a Triumvirate of as Eminent Persons as have
ever handled it. I will begin with,

30 ENCHANTMENTS

AN ABSTRACT OF MR. PERKINS'S WAY FOR
THE DISCOVERY OF WITCHES.

I. THERE are Presumptions, which do at least probably
and conjecturally note one to be a Witch. These give oc-
casion to Examine, yet they are no sufficient Causes of
Conviction.

II. If any Man or Woman be notoriously defamed for
a Witch, this yields a strong Suspition. Yet the Judge
ought carefully to look, that the Report be made by Men
of Honesty and Credit.

III. If a Fellow- Witch, or Magician, give Testimony
of any Person to be a Witch ; this indeed is not sufficient
for Condemnation; but it is a Jit Presumption to cause a
strait Examination.

IV. If after Curs ing there folio w Death, or at least some
mischief : for Witches are wont to practise their mis-
chievous Facts, by Cursing and Banning : This also is a
sufficient matter of Examination, tho' net of Conviction.

V. If after Enmity, Quarrelling, or Threatning, a
present mischief does follow ; that also is a great Presump-
tion.

VI. If the Party suspected be the Son or Daughter, the
man-servant or maid-servant, the Familiar Friend, near
Neighbor, or old Companion, of a known and convicted
IV itch; this may be likewise a Presumption; for Witch-
craft is an Art that may be learned, and conveyed from

to man.

ENCOUNTERED. 31

VII. Some add this for a Presumption: If the Party
suspected be found to have the Devil's mark ; for it is com-
monly thought, when the Devil makes his Covenant ivith
them, he alwaies leaves his mark behind them, whereby he
knows them for his own : — a mark whereof no evident
Reason in Nature can be given.

VIII. Lastly, If the party examined be Unconstant, or
contrary to himself, in his deliberate Ansivers, it argueth
a Guilty Conscience, which stops the freedom of Uttera/nce.
And yet there are causes of Astonishment, which may befal
the Good, as ivell as the Bad.

IX. But then there is a Conviction, discovering the
Witch, which must pi*oceed from just and sufficient proof s,
and not from bare presumptions.

X. Scratching of the suspected party, and Recovery
thereupon, with several other such weak Proofs ; as also,
the fleet ing of the suspected Party, thrown upon the Water;
these Proofs are so far from being sufficient, that some of
them are, after a sort, practices of Witchcraft.

XI. The Testimony of some Wizzard, tho' offering to
shew the Witches Face in a Glass : This, I grant, may be
a good Presumption, to cause a strait Examination ; but
a sufficient Proof of Conviction it cannot be. If the Devil
tell the Grand Jury, that the per son in question is a Witch,
and offers withal to confirm the same by Oath, sJwuld the
Inquest receive his Oath or Accusation to condemn the man ?
Assuredly no. And yet, that is as much as the Testimony
of another Wizzard, w/io only by the Devil's fielp reveals
the Witch.

XII. If a man, being dangerously sick, and like to d$v,

32 EXCHA NT ME NTS

upon Suspicion, will take it on his Death, that such a one
hath bewitched him, it is an Allegation of the same nature,
which may move the Judge to examine the Party, but it is
of no moment for Conviction.

XIII. Among the sufficient means of Conviction, the
first is, the free and voluntary Confession of the Crime,
made by the party suspected and accused, after Exami-
nation. I say not, that a bare confession is sufficient, but
a Confession after due Examination, taken upon preg-
nant presumptions. What needs now more witness or
further Enquiry ?

XIV. There is a second sufficient Conviction, by the
Testimony of two Witnesses, of good and honest Report,
avouching before the Magistrate, upon their own Knowledge^
these two things: either that the party accused hath made
a League with the Devil, or hath done some known practice
of ivitchcraft. A nd, all Arguments that do necessarily
prove either of these, being brought by two sufficient Wit-
nesses, are of force fully to convince the party suspected.

XV. If it can be proved, that the party suspected hath
called upon the Devil, or desired his Help, this is a preg-
nant proof of a League formerly made between them.

XVI. If it can be proved, that the party hath entertained
a Familiar Spirit, and had Conference with it, in the like-
ness of some visible Creatures ; here is Evidence of witch-
craft.

XVII. If the witnesses affirm upon Oath, that the sus-
pected person hath done any action or work which neces-
sarily infers a Covenant made, as, that he hath used
Enchantments, divined things before they come to pa-ss, and

ENCOUNTERED. 33

that peremptorily, raised Tempests, caused the Form of a
dead man to appear; itproveth sufficiently, that he or she
is a Witch. This is the Substance of Mr. Perkins.

' Take next the Sum of Mr. Gaules Judgment about the
1 Detection of Witches. 1. Some Tokens for the Trial of
'Witches, are altogether unwarrantable. Such are the
'old Paganish Sign, the Witches Long Eyes; the Tra-
* dition of Witches not weeping ; the casting of the Witch
'into the Water, with Thumbs and Toes ty'd a-cross.
' And many more such Marks, which if they are to know
' a Witch by, certainly 'tis no other Witch, but the User
'of them. 2. There are some Tokens for the Trial of
'Witches, more probable, and yet not so certain as to
' afford Conviction. Such are strong and long Suspicion :
' Suspected Ancestors, some appearance of Fact, the Corps
' bleeding upon the Witches touch, the Testimony of the
£ Party bewitched, the supposed Witches unusual Bodily
'marks, the Witches usual Cursing and Banning, the
' Witches lewd and naughty kind of Life. 3. Some Signs
' there are of a Witch, more certain and infallible. As,
'firstly, Declining of Judicature, or faultering, faulty,
' unconstant, and contrary Answers, upon judicial and de-
' liberate examination. Secondly, When upon due Enquiry
' into a person's Faith and Manners, there are found all
4 or most of the Causes which produce Witchcraft, namely,
' God forsaking, Satan invading, particular Sins disposing ;
'and lastly, a compact compleating all. Thirdly, The
' Witches free Confession, together with full Evidence of

34 ENCHANTMENTS

1 the Fact. Confession without Fact may be a meer De-
'lusion, and Fact without Confession may be a meer

* Accident. 4:thly, The semblable Gestures and Actions of
1 suspected Witches, with the comparable Expressions of Af-
' fections, which in all Witches have been observ'd and found
' very much alike. Fifthly, The Testimony of the Party be-
1 witched, whether pining or dying, together with the joynt

* Oaths of sufficient persons, that have seen certain pro-
' digious Pranks or Feats, wrought by the Party accused.
' 4. Among the most unhappy circumstances to convict a
'Witch, one is, a maligning and oppugning the Word,
'Work, and Worship of God, and by any extraordinary
1 sign seeking to seduce any from it. See Deut. 13. 1, 2.
'Mat. 24. 24. Act. 13. 8, 10. 2 Tim. 3. 8. Do but mark
' well the places, and for this very Property (of thus oppos-

* ing and perverting) they are all there concluded arrant
' and absolute Witches. 5. It is not requisite, that so
'palpable Evidence of Conviction should here come in, as
' in other more sensible matters ; 'tis enough, if there be

* but so much circumstantial Proof or Evidence, as the
' Substance, Matter, and Nature of such an abstruse Mystery

* of Iniquity will well admit.5 [/ suppose he means, that
whereas in other Crimes we look for more direct proof s, in
this there is a greater use of consequential ones.~\ ' But
' I could heartily wish, that the Juries were empanell'd of
4 the most eminent Physicians, Lawyers, and Divines that
1 a Country could afford. In the mean time 'tis not to be
4 called a Toleration, if Witches escape, where Conviction
' is wanting.' To this purpose our Gaule.

I will transcribe a little from one Author more, 'tis the

ENCOUNTERED. 35

Judicious Bernard of Batcomb, who in his Guide to grand
Jurymen, after he has mention'd several things that are
shrewd Presumptions of a Witch, proceeds to such things
as are the Convictions of such an one. And he says, * A
1 witch in league with the Devil is convicted by these Evi-
1 dences ; I. By a witches Mark ; which is upon the
4 Baser sort of Witches ; and this, by the Devils either
1 Sucking or Touching of them. Tertullian says, It is the
' Devils custome to mark his. And note, That this mark

* is Insensible, and being prick'd it will not Bleed. Some

* times, its like a Teate ; sometimes but a Bleiuish Spot ;
1 sometimes a Red one ; and sometimes the flesh Sunk :
1 but the Witches do sometimes cover them. II. By the
1 Witches Words. As when they have been heard calling
1 on, speaking to, or Talking of their Familiars ; or, when
4 they have been heard Telling of Hurt they have done to
' man or beast : Or when they have been heard Threatning

* of such Hurt ; Or if they have been heard Relating their
' Transportations. III. By the Witches Deeds. As
' when they have been seen with their Spirits, or seen se-

* cretly Feeding any of their Imps. Or, when there can
' be found their Pictures, Poppets, and other Hellish Com-

* positions. IV. By the Witches Extasies : With the
'Delight whereof, Witches are so taken, that they will
1 hardly conceal the same : Or, however at some time or
1 other, they may be found in them. V. By one or more
1 Fellow- Witches, Confessing their own Witchcraft, and

* bearing Witness against others ; if they can make good
' the Truth of their Witness, and give sufficient proof of it.

* As, that they have seen them with their Spirits, or, that

36 ENCHANTMENTS

* they have Received Spirits from them ; or that they can

* tell, when they used Witchery-Tricks to Do Harm ; or,
4 that they told them what Harm they had done ; or that
' they can show the mark upon them ; or, that they have
' been together in their Meetings ; and such like. VI. By
'some Witness of God Himself, happening upon the

* Execrable Curses of Witches upon themselves, Praying
4 of God to show some Token, if they be Guilty. VII. By
'the Witches own Confession, of Giving their Souls to
' the Devil.' It is no Rare thing, for Witches to Confess.

They are Considerable Things, which I have thus Recited ;
and yet it must be with Open Eyes, kept upon Open Rules,
that we are to follow these things,

S. 8. But Juries are not the only Instruments to be
imploy'd in such a Work ; all Christians are to be con-
cerned with daily and fervent Prayers, for the assisting of
it. In the Days of Athanasius, the Devils were found
unable to stand before, that Prayer, however then used
perhaps with too much of Ceremony, Let God Arise, Let
his Enemies be Scattered. Let them also that Hate Him,
flee before Him.

0 that instead of letting our Hearts Rise against one
another, our Prayers might Rise unto an high pitch of Im-
portunity, for such a Rising of the Lord ! Especially, Let
them that are Suffering by Witchcraft, be sure to stay
and pray, and Beseech the Lord thrice, even as much as
ever they can, before they complain of any Neighbour for
afflicting them. Let them also that are accused of Witchcraft,
set themselves to Fast and Pray, and so shake off the
Daemons that would like Vipers fasten upon them ; and
get the Waters of Jealousie made profitable to them.

ENCOUNTERED. 37

And now, 0 Thou Hope of New-England, and the
Saviour thereof in the Time of Trouble ; Do thou look
mercifully down upon us, & Rescue us, out of the Trouble
which at this time do's threaten to swallow us up. Let
Satan be shortly bruised under our Feet, and Let the
Covenanted Vassals of Satan, which have Traiterously
brought him in upon us, be Gloriously Conquered, by thy
Powerful and Gracious Presence in the midst of us. Abhor
us not, 0 God, but cleanse us, but Jieal us, but save us, for
the sake of thy Glory. Enwrapped in our Salvations.
By thy Spirit, Lift up a standard against our infernal
adversaries, Let us quickly find thee making of us glad,
according to the Days wherein ive have been afflicted.
Accept of all our Endeavours to glorifi.y thee, in the Fires
that are upon us; and among the rest, Let these my poor
and weak essays, composed with what Years, what Cares,
what Prayers, thou only knowest, not want the Acceptance
of the Lord.

A DISCOURSE ON THE WONDERS OF
THE INVISIBLE WORLD.

UTTERED (IN PART) ON AUG. 4, 1692.

Ecclesiastical History has Reported it unto us, That a Renowned
Martyr at the Stake, seeing the Book of the REVELATION thrown
by his no less Profane than Bloody Persecutors, to be burn'd in
the same Fire with himself, he cryed out, 0 Beata Apocalypsis;
quam bene mecumagitur,qui tecumComburar! BLESSED REVELA-
TION ! said he, Hoio Blessed am I in this Fire, ivhile I have Thee
to bear me Company. As for our selves this Day, 'tis a Fire of sore
Affliction and Confusion, wherein we are Embroiled ; but it is no
inconsiderable Advantage unto us, that we have the Company of
this Glorious and Sacred Book the REVELATION to assist us in our
Exercises. From that Book there is one Text, which I would
single out at this time to lay before you ; 'tis that in

REVEL, xn. 12.

Wo to the Inhabitants of the Earth, and of the Sea ; for the Devil is
come doivn unto you, having great Wrath ; because he knou-eth,
that he hath but a short time.

HE Text is Like the Cloudy and Fiery Pillar,
vouchsafed unto Israel, in the Wilderness of
old ; there is a very dark side of it in the
Intimation, that, The Devil is come down

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 39

having great Wrath ; but it has also a bright side, when
it assures us, that, He has but a short time ; Unto the
Contemplation of both, I do this Day Invite you.

We have in our Hands a Letter from our Ascended
Lord in Heaven, to Advise us of his being still alive, and
of his Purpose e're long, to give us a Visit, wherein we
shall see our Living Redeemer, stand at the latter day upon
the Earth. 'Tis the last Advice that we have had from
Heaven, for now sixteen Hundred years ; and the scope of
it, is, to represent how the Lord Jesus Christ having begun
to set up his Kingdom in the World, by the preaching of
the Gospel, he would from time to time utterly break to
pieces all Powers that should make Head against it, until,
The Kingdoms of this World are become the Kingdomes
of our Lord, and of his Christ, and he shall Reign for ever
and ever. Tis a Commentary on what had been written
by Daniel, about, The fourth Monarchy ; with some
Touches upon, The Fifth ; wherein, The greatness of the
Kingdom under the whole Heaven, shall be given to the
people of the Saints of the most High : And altho' it have,
as 'tis expressed by one of the Ancients, Tot Sacramenta
quot verba, a Mystery in every Syllable, yet it is not alto-
gether to be neglected with such a Despair, as that, /
cannot Read, for the Book is Sealed. It is a REVELATION,
and a singular, and notable Blessing is pronouuc'd upon
them that humbly study it.

The Divine Oracles, have with a most admirable Artifice
and Carefulness, drawn, as the very pious Beverley, has la-
boriously Evinced, an exact LINE OF TIME, from the first
Sabbath at the Creation of the World, unto the great Sab-

40 THE WONDERS OF

batism at the Restitution of all Things. In that famous
Line of Time, from the Decree for the Restoring of Jeru-
salem, after the Babylonish Captivity, there seem to remain
a matter of Two Thousand and Three Hundred Years,
unto that Neiv Jerusalem, whereto the Church is to be
advanced, when the mystical Babylon shall be fallen. At
the Resurrection of our Lord, there were seventeen or
eighteen Hundred of those Years, yet upon the Line, to
run unto, The rest which remains for the People of God ;
and this Remnant in the Line of Time, is here in our
Apocalypse, variously Embossed, Adorned, and Signalized
with such Distinguishing Events, if we mind them, will
help us escape that Censure, Can ye not Discern the Signs
of the Times ?

The Apostle John, for the View of these Things, had
laid before him, as I conceive, a Book, with leaves, or folds ;
which Volumn was written both on the Backside, and on
the Inside, and Roll'd up in a Cylindriacal Form, under
seven Labels, fastned with so many Seals. The first Seal
being opened, and the first Label removed, under the first
Label the Apostle saw what he saw, of a first Rider Pour-
tray'd, and so on, till the last Seal was broken up ; each
of the Sculptures being enlarged with agreeable Visions
and Voices, to illustrate it. The Book being now Unrolled,
there were Trumpets, with wonderful Concomitants, Ex-
hibited successively on the Expanding Backside of it.
Whereupon the Book was Eaten, as it were to be Hidden,
from Interpretations ; till afterwards, in the Inside of it,
the Kingdom of Anti-christ came to be Exposed. Thus,
the Judgments of God on the Roman Empire, first unto

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 41

the Downfal of Paganism, and then, unto the Downfal of
Popery, which is but Revived Paganism, are in these
Display es, with Lively Colours and Features made sensible
unto us.

Accordingly, in the Twelfth Chapter of this Book, we
have an August Preface, to the Description of that Horrid
Kingdom, which our Lord Christ refused, but Antichrist
accepted, from the Devils Hands ; a Kingdom, which for
Twelve Hundred and Sixty Years together, was to be a
continual oppression upon the People of God, and opposition
unto his Interests ; until the Arrival of that Illustrious
Day, wherein, The Kingdom shall be the Lords, and he
shall be Govemour among the Nations. The Chapter is
(as an Excellent Person calls it) an Extravasated Account
of the Circumstances, which befell the Primitive Church,
during the first Four or Five Hundred Years of Christi-
anity : It shows us the Face of the Church, first in Rome
Heathenish, and then in Rome Converted, before the Man
of Sin was yet come to Mans Estate. Our Text contains
the Acclamations made upon the most Glorious Revolution
that ever yet happened upon the Roman Empire ; namely,
That wherein the Travailing Church brought forth a
Christian Emperour. This was a most Eminent Victory
over the Devil, and Resemblance of the State, wherein the
World, ere long shall see, TJie Kingdom of our God, and
the Power of his Chrisl. It is here noted,

First, as a matter of Triumph. 'Tis said, Rejoyce, ye
Heavens, and ye that dwell in them. The Saints in both
Worlds, took the Comfort of this Revolution • the Devout
Ones that had outlived the late Persecutions, were filled

42 THE WONDERS OF

with Transporting Joys, when they saw the Christian be-
come the Imperial Religion, and when they saw Good
Men come to give Law unto the rest of Mankind; the
Deceased Ones also, whose Blood had been Sacrificed in
the Ten Persecutions, doubtless made the Light Regions
to ring with Hallelujahs unto God, when there were brought
unto them, the Tidings of the Advances now given to the
Christian Religion, for which they had suffered Martyrdom.

Secondly, As a matter of Horror. ;Tis said, Wo to the
Jnhabiters of the Earth and of the Sea. The Earth still
means the False Church, the Sea means the Wide World,
in Prophetical Phrasseology. There was yet left a vast party
of Men that were Enemies to the Christian Religion, in
the power of it ; a vast party left for the Devil to work
upon : Unto these is a Wo denounced ; and why so ? 'Tis
added, for the Devil is come down unto you, having great
Wrath, because he knows, that he. has but a short time.
These were, it seems, to have some desperate and peculiar
Attempts of the Devil made upon them. In the mean time,
we may Entertain this for our Doctrine,

Great Wo proceeds from the Great WRATH, with which
the DEVIL, towards the end of his TIME, will make a
DESCENT upon a miserable World.

I have now Published a most awful and solemn Warning
for our selves at this day ; which has four Propositions,
comprehended in it.

Proposition I. That there is a Devil, is a thing Doubted
by none but such as are under the Influences of the Devil.
For any to deny the Being of a Devil must be from an
Ignorance or Profaneness, worse than Diabolical. A Devil.

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 43

What is that ? We have a Definition of the Monster, in
Eph. 6. 12. A Spiritual Wickedness, that is, A wicked
Spirit. A Devil is a Fallen Angel, an Angel Fallen from
the Fear and Love of God, and from all Celestial Glories ;
but Fallen to all manner of Wretchedness and Cursedness.
He was once in that Order of Heavenly Creatures, which
God in the Beginning made Ministering Spirits, for his
own peculiar Service and Honour, in the management of
the Universe; but we may now write that Epitaph upon
him, How art thou fallen from Heaven! thou hast said in
thine Heart, I will Exalt my Throne above the Stars of
God ; but thou art brought down to Hell ! A Devil is a
Spiritual and Rational Substance, by his Apostacy from
God, inclined unto all that is Vicious, and for that Apostacy
confined unto the Atmosphere of this Earth, in Chains
under Darkness, unto the Judgment of the Great Day.
This is a Devil ; and the Experience of Mankind as well
as the Testimony of Scripture, does abundantly prove the
Existence of such a Devil.

About this Devil, there are many things, whereof we
may reasonably and profitably be Inquisitive ; such things,
I mean, as are in our Bibles Reveal'd unto us ; according
to which if we do not speak, on so dark a Subject, but
according to our own uncertain, and perhaps hurnoursome
Conjectures, There is no Light in us. I will carry you
with me, but unto one Paragraph of the Bible, to be in-
formed of three Things, relating to the Devil; 'tis the
Story of the Gadaren Energumen, in the fifth Chapter of
Mark.

First, then, 'Tis to be granted ; the Devils are so many,

44 THE WONDERS OF

that some Thousands, can sometimes at once apply them-
selves to vex one Child of Man. It is said in Mark 5. 15.
He that was Possessed with the Devil, had the Legion.
Dreadful to be spoken ! A Legion consisted of Twelve
Thousand Five Hundred People : And we see that in one
Man or two, so many Devils can be spared for a Garrison.
As the Prophet cryed out, Multitudes, Multitudes, in the
Valley of Decision f Sol say, There are multitudes, mul-
titudes, in the valley of Destruction, where the Devils are !
When we speak of, The Devil, 'tis, A name of Multitude ;
it means not One Individual Devil, so Potent and Scient,
as perhaps a Manichee would imagine; but it means a
Kind, which a Multitude belongs unto. Alas, the Devils,
they swarm about us, like the Frogs of Egypt, in the most
Retired of our Chambers. Are we at our Boards ? There
will be Devils to Tempt us unto Sensuality : Are we in our
Beds ? There will be Devils to Tempt us unto Carnality :
Are we in our Shops ? There will be Devils to Tempt us
unto Dishonesty. Yea, Tho' we get into the Church of
God, there will be Devils to Haunt us in the very Temple
it self, and there tempt us to manifold Misbehaviours. I
am verily perswaded, That there are very few Humane
Affairs whereinto some Devils are not Insinuated ; There
is not so much as a Journey intended, but Satan will have
an hand in hindering or furthering of it.

Secondly, 'Tis to be supposed, That there is a sort of
Arbitrary, even Military Government, among the Devils.
This is intimated, when in Mar. 5. 9. The unclean Spirit
said, My Name is Legion : they are such a Discipline as
Legions use to be. Hence we read about, The Prince of

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 45

the power of the Air : Our Air has a power ? or an Army
of Devils in the High Places of it ; and these Devils have
a Prince over them, who is King over the Children of
Pride. Tis probable, That the Devil, who was the Ring-
leader of that mutinous and rebellious Crew, which first
shook off the Authority of God, is now the General of those
Hellish Armies ; Our Lord, that Conquered him, has told
us the Name of him ; 'tis Belzebub ; 'tis he that is the
Devil, and the rest are his Angels, or his Souldiers. Think
on vast Regiments of cruel and bloody French Dragoons,
with an Intendant over them, overrunning a pillaged
Neighbourhood, and you will think a little, what the Con-
stitution among the Devils is.

Thirdly, 'tis to be supposed, that some Devils are more
peculiarly Commissioned, and perhaps Qualify'd, for some
Countries, while others are for others. This is intimated
when in Mar. 5. 10. The Devils besought our Lord much,
that he would not send them away out of the Countrey.
Why was that ? But in all probability, because these Devils
were more able to do the works of the Devil, in such a
Countrey, than in another. It is not likely that every
Devil does know every Language ; or that every Devil can
do every Mischief. 'Tis possible, that the Experience, or,
if I may call it so, the Education of all Devils is not alike,
and that there may be some difference in their Abilities.
If one might make an Inference from what the Devils do,
to what they are, One cannot forbear dreaming, that there
are degrees of Devils. Who can allow, that such Trifling
Daemons, as that of Mascon, or those that once infested our
Neiu berry, are of so much Grandeur, as those Dctmcms,

46 THE WONDERS OF

whose Games are mighty Kingdoms? Yea, 'tis certain,
that all Devils do not make a like Figure in the Invisible
World. Nor does it look agreeably, That the Damons,
which were the Familiars of such a Man as the old Apol-
lonius, differ not from those baser Goblins that chuse to
Nest in the filthy and loathsom Rags of a beastly Sorceress.
Accordingly, why may not some Devils be more accom-
plished for what is to be done in such and such places,
when others must be detach'd for other Territories? Each
Devil, as he sees his advantage, cries out, Let me be in this
Countrey, rather than another. But Enough, if not too
much, of these things.

Proposition II. There is a Devilish Wrath against
Mankind, with which the Demi is for God's sake Inspired.
The Devil is himself broiling under the intolerable and
interminable Wrath of God ; and a fiery Wrath at God,
is, that which the Devil is for that cause Enflamed. Me-
thinks I see the posture of the Devils in Isa. 8. 21. They
fret themselves, and Curse their God, and look upward.
The first and chief Wrath of the Devil, is at the Almighty
God himself; he knows, The God that made him, will not
have mercy on him, and the God that formed him, will
shew him no favour ; and so he can have no Kindness
for that God, who has no Mercy, nor Favour for him.
Hence 'tis, that he cannot bear the Name of God should
be acknowledged in the World : Every Acknowledgement
paid unto God, is a fresh drop of the burning Brimstone
falling upon the Devil ; he does make his Insolent, tho'
Impotent Batteries, even upon the Throne of God himself :
and foolishly affects to have himself exalted unto that

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 47

Glorious High Throne, by all people, as he sometimes is,
by Execrable Witches. This horrible Dragon does not
only with his Tayl strike at the Stars of God, but at the
God himself, who made the Stars, being desirous to out-
shine them all. God and the Devil are sworn Enemies to
each other ; the Terms between them, are those, in Zech.
11.18. My Soul loathed them, and their Soul also abhorred
me. And from this Furious wrath, or Displeasure and
Prejudice at God, proceeds the Devils wrath at us, the poor
Children of Men. Our doing the Service of God, is one
thing that exposes us to the wrath of the Devil. We are
the High Priests of the World ; when all Creatures are
called upon, Praise ye the Lord, they bring to us those
demanded Praises of God, saying, do you offer them for
us. Hence 'tis, that the Devil has a Quarrel with us, as
he had with the High-Priest in the Vision of Old. Our
bearing the Image of God is another thing that brings the
wrath of the Devil upon us. As a Tyger, thro his Hatred
at man will tear the very Picture of him, if it come in his
way ; such a Tyger the Devil is ; because God said of old,
Let us make Man in our Image, the Devil is ever saying,
Let us pull this man to pieces. But the envious Pride of
the Devil, is one thing more that gives an Edge unto his
Furious Wrath against us. The Apostle has given us an
hint, as if Pride had been the Condemnation of the Devil.
'Tis not unlikely, that the Devil's Affectation to be above
that Condition which he might learn that Mankind was to
be preferr'd unto, might be the occasion of his taking up
Arms against the Immortal King. However, the Devil
now sees Man lying in the Bosom of God, but himself

48 THE WONDERS OF

damned in the bottom of Hell ; and this enrages him ex-
ceedingly ; 0, says he, / cannot bear it, that man should
not be as miserable as my self.

Proposition III. The Devil, in the prosecution, and the
execution of his wrath upon them, often gets a Liberty to
make a Descent upon the Children of men. When the
Devil does hurt unto us, he comes down unto us • for the
Rendezvouze of the Infernal Troops, is indeed in the su-
pernal parts of our Air. But as 'tis said, A sparroiv of the
Air does not fall down without the will of God ; so I may
say, Not a Devil in the Air, can come down without the,
leave of God. Of this we have a famous Instance in that
Arabian Prince, of whom the Devil was not able so much
as to Touch any thing, till the most high God gave him a
permission, to go down. The Devil stands with all the
Instruments of death, aiming at us, and begging of the
Lord, as that King ask'd for the Hood-wink'd Syrians of
old, Shall I smite }em, shall I smite 'em ? He cannot strike
a blow, till the Lord say, Go down and smite, but some-
times he does obtain from the high possessor of Heaven and
Earth, a License for the doing of it. The Devil some-
times does make most rueful Havock among us ; but still
we may say to him, as our Lord said unto a great Servant
of his, Thou couldest have no power against me, except it
were given thee from above. The Devil is called in 1 . Pet.
5. 8. Your Adversary. This is a Law-term ; and it notes
An Adversary at Law. The Devil cannot come at us,
except in some sence according to Law ; but sometimes he
does procure sad things to be inflicted, according to the
Law of the eternal King upon us. The Devil first goes up

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 49

as an Accuser against us. He is therefore styled The Ac-
cuser; and it is on this account, that his proper Name does
belong unto him. There is a Court somewhere kept ; a
Court of Spirits, where the Devil enters all sorts of Com-
plaints against us all ; he charges us with manifold sins
against the Lord our God : There he loads us with heavy
Imputations of Hypocrysie, Iniquity, Disobedience; where-
upon he urges, Lord, let 'em now have the death, which is
their wages, paid unto 'em ! If our A dvocate in the Heavens
do not now take off his Libels ; the Devil, then, with a
Concession of God, comes down, as a destroyer upon us.
Having first been an Attorney ', to bespeak that the Judg-
ments of Heaven may be ordered for us, he then also pleads,
that he may be the Executioner of those Judgments ; and
the God of Heaven sometimes after a sort, signs a Warrant,
for this destroying Angel, to do what has been desired to
be done for the destroying of men. But such a permission
from God, for the Devil to come down, and break in upon
mankind, oftentimes must be accompany'd with a Commis-
sion from some wretches of mankind it self. Every man
is, as 'tis hinted in Gen. 4. 9. His brother's keeper. We
are to keep one another from the Inroads of the Devil, by
mutual and cordial Wishes of prosperity to one another.
When ungodly people give their Consents in witchcrafts
diabolically performed, for the Devil to annoy their Neigh-
bours, he finds a breach made in the Hedge about us,
whereat he Rushes in upon us, with grievous molestations.
Yea, when the impious people, that never saw the Devil,
do but utter their Curses against their Neighbours, those
are so many ivatch words, whereby the Mastives of Hell

50 THE WONDERS OF

are animated presently to fall upon us. 'Tis thus, that the
Devil gets leave to worry us.

Proposition I V. Most horrible woes come to be inflicted
upon Mankind, when the Devil does in great wrath, make
a descent upon them. The Devil is a Do-Evil, and wholly
set upon mischief. When our Lord once was going to
Muzzel him, that he might not mischief others, he cry'd
out, Art thou come to torment me? He is, it seems, him-
self Tormented, if he be but Restrained from the torment-
ing of Men, If upon the sounding of the Three last
Apocalyptical Angels, it was an outcry made in Heaven,
Wo, wo, wo, to the inhabitants of the Earth by reason of
tfie voice of the Trumpet. I am sure, a descent made by
the Angel of death, would give cause for the like Excla-
mation : Wo to the world, by reason of the ivrath of the
Devil ! what a woful plight, mankind would by the descent
of the Devil be brought into, may be gathered from the
woful pains, and wounds, and hideous desolations which
the Devil brings upon them, with whom he has with a
bodily Possession made a Seisure. You may both in Sacred
and Profane History, read many a direful Account of the
woes, which they that are possessed by the Devil, do undergo :
And from thence conclude, What must the Children of Men
hope from such a Devil! Moreover, the Tyrannical Cere-
monies, whereto the Devil uses to subjugate such Woful
Nations or Orders of Men, as are more Entirely under his
Dominion, do declare what woful Work the Devil would
make where he conies. The very Devotions of those for-
lorn Pagans, to whom the Devil is a Leader, are most
bloody Penances ; and what Woes indeed must we expect

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 51

from such a Devil of a Moloch, as relishes no Sacrifices
like those of Humane Heart-Blood, and unto whom there
is no Musick like the bitter, dying, doleful Groans, ejacu-
lated by the Roasting Children of Men.

Furthermore, the servile, abject, needy circumstances
wherein the Devil keeps the Slaves, that are under his more
sensible Vassalage, do suggest unto us, how woful the
Devil would render all our Lives. We that live in a Pro-
vince, which affords unto us all that may be necessary or
comfortable for us, found the Province fill'd with vast Herds
of Salvages, that never saw so much as a Knife, or a Nail,
or a Board, or a Grain of Salt, in all their Days. No
better would the Devil have the World provided for. Nor
should we, or any else, have one convenient thing about
us, but be as indigent as usually our most Ragged Witches
are ; if the Devil's Malice were not over-ruled by a com-
passionate God, who preserves Man and Beast. Hence
'tis, that the Devil, even like a Dragon, keeping a Guard
upon such Fruits as would refresh a languishing World,
has hindred Mankind for many Ages, from hitting those
useful Inventions, which yet were so obvious andfacil, that
it is every bodies wonder, they were no sooner hit upon.
The bemisted World, must jog on for thousands of Years,
without the knowledg of the Loadstone, till a Neapolitan
stumbled upon it, about three hundred years ago. Nor
must the World be blest with such a matchless Engine of
Learning and Vertue, as that of Printing, till about the
middle of the Fifteenth Century. Nor could One Old Man,
all over the Face of the whole Earth, have the benefit
of such a Little, tho most needful thing, as a pair of

52 THE WONDERS OF

Spectacles, till a Dutch-Man, a little while ago accommo-
dated us.

Indeed, as the Devil does begrutch us all manner of
Good, so he does annoy us with all manner of Wo, as often
as he finds himself capable of doing it. But shall we
mention some of the special woes with which the Devil does
usually infest the World ! Briefly then ; Plagues are some
of those woes with which the Devil troubles us. It is said
of the Israelites, in 1 Cor. 10. 10. They were destroyed of
the destroyer. That is, they had the Plague among them.
JTis the Destroyer, or the Devil, that scatters Plagues about
the World. Pestilential and Contagious Diseases, 'tis the
Devil who does oftentimes invade us with them. ;Tis no
unaasy thing for the Devil to impregnate the Air about us,
with such Malignant Salts as meeting with the Salt, of our
Microcosm, shall immediately cast us into that Fermen-
tation and Putrefaction, which will utterly dissolve all the
Vital Tyes within us ; Ev'n as an Aqua-Fortis, made with
a conjunction of Nitre and Vitriol, Corrodes what it Seizes
upon. And when the Devil has raised those Arsenical
Fumes, which become Venemous Quivers full of Terrible
Arrows, how easilv can he shoot the deleterious Miasms
into those Juices or Bowels of Mens Bodies, which will
soon Enflame them with a Mortal Fire ! Hence come such
Plagues, as that Beesom of Destruction, which within our
memory swept away such a Throng of People from one
English City in one Visitation ; And hence those Infectious
Fevers, which are but so many Disguised Plagues among
us, causing Epidemical Desolations. Again, Wars are
also some of those Woes with which the Devil causes our

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 53

Trouble. It is said in Rev. 12. 17. The Dragon was
Wrath, and he went to make War; and there is in truth
scarce any War, but what is of the Dragon's kindling.
The Devil is that Vulcan, out of whose Forge come the
instruments of our Wars, and it is he that finds us Em-
ployments for those Instruments. We read concerning
Dcemoniacks, or People in whom the Devil was, that they
would cut and wound themselves; and so, when the Devil
is in Men, he puts 'em upon dealing in that barbarous
fashion with one another. Wars do often furnish him with
some Thousands of Souls in one Morning from one Acre
of Ground; and for the sake of such Thyestcean Banquets,
he will push us upon as many Wars as he can.

Once more, why may not Storms be reckoned among
those Woes, with which the Devil does disturb us ? It is
not improbable that Natural Storms on the World are often
of the Devils raising. We are told in Job 1, 11, 12, 19.
that the Devil made a Storm, which hurricano'd the House
of Job, upon the Heads of them that were Feasting in it.
Paracelsus could have informed the Devil, if he had not
been informed, as besure he was before, That if much
A luminious matter, with Salt Petre not throughly prepared,
be mixed, they will send up a cloud of Smoke, which will
come down in Rain. But undoubtedly the Devil under-
stands as well the way to make a Tempest as to turn the
Winds at the Solicitation of 'a Laplander ; whence perhaps
it is, that Thunders are observed oftner to break upon
Churches than upon any other Buildings; and besides
many a Man, yea many a Ship, yea, many a Town has
miscarried, when the Devil has been permitted from above

54 THE WONDERS OF

to make an horrible Tempest. However that the Devil
has raised many Metaphorical Storms upon the Church, is
a thing, than which there is nothing more notorious. It
was said unto Believers in Rev. 2. 10. The Devil Khali
cast some of you into Prison. The Devil was he that at
first set Cain upon Abel to butcher him, as the Apostle
seems to suggest, for his Faith in God, as a Rewardcr.
And in how many Persecutions, as well as Heresies, has the
Devil been ever since Engaging all the Children of Cain!
That Serpent the Devil has acted his cursed Seed in un-
wearied endeavours to have them, Of whom the World is
not worthy, treated as those who are not ivorthy to live in
tlie World. By the impulse of the Devil, 'tis that first the
old Heathens, and then the mad Arians were pricking
Briars to the true Servants of God ; and that the Papists
that came after them, have out done them all for Slaughters,
upon those that have been accounted as the Sheep for the
Slaughters. The late French Persecution is perhaps the
horriblest that ever was in the World : And as the Devil
of Mascon seems before to have meant it in his out-cries
upon the Miseries preparing for the poor Hvgonots! Thus
it has been all acted by a singular Fury of the old Dragon
inspiring of his Emissaries.

But in reality, Spiritual Woes are the principal Woes
among all those that the Devil would have us undone
withal. Sins are the worst of Woes, and the Devil seeks
nothing so much as to plunge us into Sins. "When men
do commit a Crime for which they are to be Indicted, they
are usually mov'd by the Instigation of the Devil. The
Devil will put ill men upon being ivorse. Was it not he

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 55

that said in 1 King. 22. 22. / will go forth, and be a lying
Spirit in the Mouth of all the Prophets ? Even so the
Devil becomes an Unclean Spirit, a Drinking Spirit, a
Swearing Spirit, a Worldly Spirit, a Passionate Spirit,
a Revengeful Spirit, and the like in the Hearts of those
that are already too much of such a Spirit ; and thus they
become improv'd in Sinfulness. Yea, the Devil will put
good men upon doing ill. Thus we read in 1 Chron. 21.
1 . Satan provoked David to number Israel. And so the
Devil provokes men that are Eminent in Holiness unto such
things as may become eminently Pernicious ; he provokes
them especially unto Pride, and unto many unsuitable
Emulations. There are likewise most lamentable Impres-
sions which the Devil makes upon the Souls of Men by
way of punishment upon them for their Sins. 'Tis thus
when an Offended God puts the Souls of Men over into
the Hands of that Officer who has the power of Death, that
is, the Devil. It is the woful Misery of Unbelievers in 2
Cor. 4. 4. The god of this World has blinded their minds.
And thus it may be said of those woful Wretches whom
the Devil is a God unto, the Devil so muffles them that they
cannot see the things of their peace. And the Devil so
hardens them, that nothing will awaken their cares about
their Souls: How come so many to be Seared in their
Sins 1 'Tis the Devil that with a red hot Iron fetcht from
his Hell does cauterise them. Thus 'tis, till perhaps at
last they come to have a Wounded Conscience in them, and
the Devil has often a share in their Torturing and con-
founding Anguishes. The Devil who Terrified Cain, and
Saul, and Judas into Desperation, still becomes a King of

56 THE WONDERS OF

Terrors to many Sinners, and frights them from laying
hold on the Mercy of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. In
these regards, Wo to us, when the Devil comes down upon
us.

Proposition V.- Toward the End of his Time the Descent
of the Devil in Wrath upon the "World will produce more
woful Effects, than what have been in former Ages. The
dying Dragon, will bite more cruelly and sting more
bloodily than ever he did before : The Death-pangs of the
Devil will make him to be more of a Devil than ever he
was; and the Furnace of this Nebuchadnezzar will be
heated seven times hotter, just before its putting out.

We are in the first place to apprehend that there is a
time fixed and stated by God for the Devil to enjoy a
dominion over our sinful and therefore woful World. The
Devil once exclaimed in Mat. 8. 29. Jesus, thou Son of God,
art thou come hither to Torment us before our Time ? It is
plain, that until the second coming of our Lord the Devil
must have a time of plagueing the World, which he was
afraid would have Expired at his first. The Devil is by
the wrath of God the Prince of this World ; and the time
of his Reign is to continue until the time when our Lord
himself shall take to himself his great Power and Reign.
Then 'tis that the Devil shall hear the Son of God swearing
with loud thunders against him, Thy time shall now be no
more ! Then shall the Devil with his Angels receive their
doom, which will be, depart into the everlasting Fire pre-
pared for you,.

We are also to apprehend, that in the mean time, the
Devil can give a shrewd guess, when he draws near to the

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 57

End of his Time. When he saw Christianity enthron'd
among the Romans, it is here said, in our Rev. 12. 12.
He knows he hath but a short time. And how does he
know it ? Why Reason will make the Devil to know that
God won't suffer him to have the Everlasting Dominion ;
and that when God has once begun to rescue the World
out of his hands, he'll go through with it, until the Captives
of the mighty shall be taken away and the prey of the
terrible shall be delivered. But the Devil will have Scrip-
ture also, to make him know, that when his Antichristian
Vicar, the seven-headed Beast on the seven-hilled City,
shall have spent his determined years, he with his Vicar
must unavoidably go down into the bottomless Pit. It is
not improbable, that the Devil often hears the Scripture
expounded in our Congregations ; yea that we never
assemble without a Satan among us. As there are some
Divines, who do with more uncertainty conjecture, from a
certain place in the Epistle to the Ephesians, That the
Angels do sometimes come into our Churches, to gain some
advantage from our Ministry. But be sure our Demon-
strable Interpretations may give Repeated Notices to the
Devil, That his time is almost out; and what the Preacher
says unto the Young Man, Know thou, that God will bring
thee into Judgment / THAT may our Sermons tell unto the
Old Wretch, Know thou, that thy Judgment is at hand.
But we must now, likewise, apprehend, that in such a
time, the woes of the World will be heightened, beyond
what they were at any time yet from the foundation of the
World. Hence 'tis, that the Apostle has forewarned us, in
2 Tim. 3. 1. This know, that in the last days,perillous times

58 THE WONDERS OF

shall come. Truly, when the Devil knows, that he is got
into his Last days, he will make perillous times for us ; the
times will grow more full of Devils, and therefore more full
of Perils, than ever they were before. Of this, if we would
know, what cause is to be assigned ; It is not only, because
the Devil grows more able, and more eager to vex the World ;
but also, and chieiiy, because the World is more worthy to be
vexed by the Devil, than ever heretofore. The Sins of men
in this Generation, will be more mighty Sins, than those of
the former Ages ; men will be more Accurate and Exquisite
and Refined in the arts of Sinning, than they use to be.
And besides, their own sins, the sins of all the former
Ages will also lie upon the sinners of this generation. Do
we ask why the mischievous powers of darkness are to
prevail more in our days, than they did in those that are
past and gone ! 'Tis because that men by sinning over
again the sins of the former days, have a Fellowship with
all those unfruitful works of darkness. As 'twas said in
Matth. 23. 36. All these things shall come upon this gene-
ration ; so, the men of the last Generation, will find them-
selves involved in the gulf of all that went before them.
Of Sinners 'tis said. They heap up wrath ; and the sinners
of the Last Generations do not only add unto the heap of Bin
that has been pileing up ever since the Fall of man, but they
Interest themselves in every sin of that enormous heap.
There has been a Cry of all former ages going up to God,
That the Devil may come down ! and the sinners of the
Last Generations, do sharpen and louden that cry, till the
thing do come to pass, as Destructively as Irremediably.
From whence it follows, that the Thrice Holy God, with

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 59

his Holy Angels, will now after a sort more abandon the
World, than in the former ages. The roaring Impieties
of the old World, at last gave mankind such a distast in
the Heart of the Just God, that he came to say, It Repents
nic that I have made such a Creature ! And however, it
may be but a witty Fancy, in a late Learned Writer, that
the Earth before the Flood was nearer to the Sun, than it
is at this Day ; and that Gods Hurling down the Earth to
a further distance from the Sun, were the cause of that
Flood ; yet we may fitly enough say, that men perished by
a Rejection from the God of Heaven. Thus the euhanc'd
Impieties of this ourPVorld,vtill Exasperate the Displeasure
of God, at such a rate, as that he will more cast us of,
than heretofore ; until at last, he do with a more than
ordinary Indignation say, Go Devils ; do you take them,
and make them beyond all former measures miserable !

If Lastly, We are inquisitive after Instances of those
aggravated woes, with which the Devil will towards the End
of his Time assault us ; let it be remembred, That all the
Extremities which were foretold by the Trumpets and Vials
in the Apocalyptick Schemes of these things to come upon
the World, were the woes to come from the wrath of the
Devil, upon the thortning of his Time. The horrendous
desolations that have come upon mankind, by the Irruptions
of the old barbarians upon the Roman World, and then
of the Saracens, and since, of the 2'urka, were such woes
as men had never seen before. The Infandous Blindness
and Viltness which then came upon mankind, and the
Monstrous Croisadoes which thereupon carried the Roman
World by Millions together unto the Shambles ; were also

60 THE WONDERS OF

such woes as had never yet had a Parallel. And yet these
were some of the things here intended, when it was said,
Wo ! For the Devil is come down in great Wrath, having
but a short time.

But besides all these things, and besides the increase of
Plagues and Wars, and Storms, and Internal Maladi<*
now in our days, there are especially two most extraordi-
nary Woes, one would fear, will in these days become very
ordinary. One Woe that may be look'd for is, A frequent
Repetition of Earthquakes, and this perhaps by the energy
of the Devil in the Earth. The Devil will be clap't up, as
a Prisoner in or near the Bowels of the earth, when once
that Conflagration shall be dispatched, which will make,
The New Earth wherein shall divell Righteousness ; and
that Conflagration will doubtless be much promoted, by the
Subterraneous Fires, which are a cause of the Earthquakes
in our Dayes. Accordingly, we read, Great Earthquakes
in divers places, enumerated among the Tokens of the
Time approaching, when the Devil shall have no longer
Time. I suspect, That we shall now be visited with more
Usual and yet more Fatal Earthquakes, than were our
Ancestors ; in asmuch as the Fires that are shortly to Burn
unto the Lowest Hell, and set on Fire the Foundations of
the Mountains, will now get more Head than they use to
do ; and it is not impossible, that the Devil, who is ere long
to be punished in those Fires, may aforehand augment his
Desert of it, by having an hand in using some of those
Fires, for our Detriment. Learned Men have made no
scruple to charge the Devil with it ; Deo permittente,
Terrce motus causat. The Devil surely, was a party in the

THE INVISIBLE WOELD. 61

Earthquake, whereby the Vengeance of God, in one black
Night sunk Twelve considerable Cities of Asia, in the
Reign of Tiberious. But there will be more such Catas-
trophe's in our Dayes ; Italy has lately been Shaking, till
its Earthquakes have brought Ruines at once upon more
than thirty Towns ; but it will within a little while, shake
again, and shake till the Fire of God have made an Entire
Etna of it. And behold, This very Morning, when I was
intending to utter among you such Things as these, we are
cast into an Heartquake by Tidings of an Earthquake that
has lately happened at Jamaica : an horrible Earthquake,
whereby the Tyrus of the English America, was at once
pull'd into the Jaws of the Gaping and Groaning Earth,
and many Hundreds of the Inhabitants buried alive.
The Lord sanctifie so dismal a Dispensation of his Provi-
dence, unto all the American Plantations ! But be assured,
my Neighbours, the Earthquakes are not over yet ! We
have not yet seen the last. And then, Another Wo that
may be Look'd for is, The Devils being now let Loose in
preternatural Operations more than formerly ; and perhaps
in Possessions and Obsessions that shall be very marvellous.
You are not Ignorant, That just before our Lords First
Coming, there were most observable Outrages committed
by the Devil upon the Children of Men : And I am sus-
picious, That there will again be an unusual Range of the
Devil among us, a little before the Second Coming of our
Lord, which will be, to give the last stroke, in Destroying
the works of the Devil. The Evening Wolves will be much
abroad, when we are near the Evening of the World. The
Devil is going to be Dislodged of the Air, where his present

62 THE WONDERS OF

Quarters are ; God will with flashes of hot Lightning upon
him, cause him to fall as Lightning from his Ancient
Habitations : And the Raised Saints will there have a
New Heaven, which We expect according to the Promise
of God. Now a little before this thing, you be like to see
the Devil more sensible and visibly Busy upon Earth
perhaps, than ever he was before. You shall oftner hear
about Apparitions of the Devil, and about poor people
strangely Bewitched, Possessed and Obsessed, by Infernal
Fiends. When our Lord is going to set up His Kingdom,
in the most sensible and visible manner, that ever was, and
in a manner answering the Transfiguration in the Mount,
it is a Thousand to One, but the Devil will in sundry parts
of the world, assay the like for Himself, with a most Apish
Imitation : and Men, at least in some Corners of the World,
and perhaps in such as God may have some special Designs
upon, will to their Cost, be more Familiarized ivith the
World of Spirits, than they had been formerly.

So that, in fine, if just before the End, when the times
of the Jews were to be finished, a man then ran about
every where, crying, Wo to the Nation ! Wo to the City !
Wo to the Temple I Wo! Wo! Wo! Much more may the
descent of the Devil, just before his End, when also the
times of the Gentiles will be finished, cause us to cry out,
Wo! Wo! Wo! because of the black things that threaten
us!

But it is now Time to make our Improvement of what
lias been said. And, first, we shall entertain our selves
with a few Corollaries, deduced from what has been thus
asserted.

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 63

Corollary I. What cause have we to bless God, for our
preservation from the Devils wrath, in this which may too
reasonably be called the Devils World ! While we are in
this present evil world, We are continually surrounded with
swarms of those Devils, who make this present world,
become so evil. What a wonder of Mercy is it, that no
Devil could ever yet make a prey of us ! We can set our
foot no where but we shall tread in the midst of most
Hellish Rattle-Snakes ; and one of those Rattle-Snakes
once thro' the mouth of a Man, on whom he had Seized,
hissed out such a Truth as this, If God would let me loose
upon you, I should find enough in the Best of you all, to
make you all mine. What shall I say ? The Wilderness
thro7 which we are passing to the Promised Land, is all
over fill'd with Fiery flying se^ients. But, blessed be
God ; None of them have hitherto so fastned upon us, as
to confound us utterly ! All our way to Heaven, lies by the
Dens of Lions, and the Mounts of Leopards ; there are
incredible Droves of Devils in our way. But have we safely
got on our way thus far ? 0 let us be thankful to our
Eternal preserver for it. It is said in Psal. 76. 10. Surely
the wi*ath of Man shall praise tJiee, and the Remainder of
ivrath sJialt thou restrain ; But surely it becomes us to
praise God, in that we have yet sustain'd no more Damage
by the wrath of the Devil, and in that he has restraint
that Overwhelming wrath. We are poor, Travellers in a
World, which is as well the Devils Field, as the Devils
Gaol; a World in every Nook whereof, the Devil is en-
camped, with Bands of Robbers, to pester all that have
their Face looking Zion-ward : And are we all this while

64 THE WONDERS OF

preserved from the undoing Snares of the Devil ? it is
Thou, 0 keeper of Israel, that hast hitherto been our
Keeper I And therefore, Bless the Lord, 0 my soul, Bless
his Holy Name, who has redeemed thy Life from the Des-
troyer /

Corollary II. We may see the rise of those multiply'd,
magnify 'd, and Singularly-stinged Afflictions, -with which
aged, or dying Saints frequently have their Death Prefaced,
and their Age embittered. When the Saints of God are
going to leave the World, it is usually a more Stormy
World with them, than ever it was ; and they find more
Vanity, and more Vexation in the world than ever they
did before. It is true, That many are the afflictions of the
Righteous ; but a little before they bid adieu to all those
many Afflictions, they often have greater, harder, Sorer,
Loads thereof laid upon them, than they had yet endured.
It is true, That thro1 much Tribulation we must enter in
the Kindom of God ; but a little before our Entrance
thereinto, our Tribulation may have some sharper accents
of Sorrow, than ever were yet upon it. And what is the
cause of this ? It is indeed the Faithfulness of our God
unto us, that we should find the Earth more full of Thorns
and Briars than ever, just before he fetches us from Earth
to Heaven ; that so we may go away the more willingly,
the more easily, and with less Convulsion, at his calling
for us. 0 there are ugly Ties, by which we are fastned
unto this world ; but God will by Thorns and Briars tear
those Ties asunder. But, is not the hand of Joab here ?
Sure, There is the wrath of the Devil also in it. A little
before we step into Heaven, the Devil thinks with himself,

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 65

J/y time to abuse that Saint is now but short; what Mis-
chief I am to do that Saint, must be done quickly, if at
all; he'l shortly be out of my Reach for ever. And for
this cause he will now fly upon us with the Fiercest Efforts
and Furies of his Wrath. It was allowed unto the Serpent,
in Gen. 2. 15. To Bruise the Heel. Why, at the Heel,
or at the Close, of our Lives, the Serpent will be nibbling,
more than ever in our Lives before : and it is, Because noio
he has but a short time. He knows, That we shall very
shortly be, Where the wicked cease from Troubling, and
where the Weary are at Rest ; wherefore that Wicked one
will now Trouble us, more than ever he did, and we shall
have so much Disrest, as will make us more iveary than
ever we were, of things here below.

Corollary III. What a Reasonable Thing then is it,
that they whose Time is but short, should make as great
Use of their Time, as ever they can ! pray, let us learn
some good, even from the wicked One himself. It has
been advised, Be wise as Serpents: why, there is a piece
of Wisdom, whereto that old Serpent, the Devil himself,
may be our Moniter. When the Devil perceives his Time
is but short, it puts him upon Great Wrath. But how
should it be with us, when we perceive that our Time is
but short? why, it should put us upon Great Work. The
motive which makes the Devil to be more full of -wrath;
should make us more full of warmth, more full of watch,
and more full of All Diligence to make our Vocation, and
Election sure. Our Pace in our Journey Hraven-ivard,
must be Quickened, if our space for that Journey beshortned,
even as Israel went further the two last years of their
F

66 THE WONDERS OF

Journey Canaan-ward, than they did in 38 years before.
The Apostle brings this, as a spur to the Devotions of
Christians, in 1 Cor. 7. 29. This I say, Brethren, the time
is short. Even so, I say this ; some things I lay before
you, which I do only think, or guess, but here is a thing
which I venture to say with all the freedom imaginable.
You have now a Time to get good, even a Time to make
sure of Grace and Glory, and every good thing, by true
Repentance: But, This I say, the time is but short. You
have now Time to Do good, even to serve out your genera-
tion, as by the Will, so for the Praise of God ; but, This
I say, the time is but short. And what I say thus to All
People, I say to Old People, with a peculiar Vehemency :
Sirs, It cannot be long before your Time is out ; there are
but a few sands left in the glass of your Time: And it is
of all things the saddest, for a man to say, My Time is
done, but my ivork undone! 0 then, To work as fast as
you can ; and of Soul-work, and Church-work, dispatch as
much as ever you can. Say to all Hindrances, as the
gracious Jeremiah Burrows would sometimes to Visitants:
You'll excuse me if I ask you to be short with me, for my
work is great, and my time is but short. Methinks every
time we hear a Clock, or see a Watch, we have an admo-
nition given us, that our Time is upon the wing, and it will
all be gone within a little while. I remember I have read
of a famous man, who having a Clock-watch long lying
by him, out of Kilture in his Trunk, it unaccountably struck
Eleven just before he died. Why, there are many of you,
for whom I am to do that office this day : I am to tell you
You are come to your Eleventh hour • there is no more

THE INVISIBLE WOULD. 67

than a twelfth part at most, of your life yet behind. But
if we neglect our business, till our short Time shall be
reduced into none, then woe to us, for the great wrath of
God will send us down from whence there is no Redemption.

Corollary IV.

How welcome should a Death in the Lord be unto them
that belong not unto the Devil, but unto the Lord ! While
we are sojourning in this World, we are in what may
upon too many accounts be called The Devils Country:
We are where the Devil may come upon us in great wrath
continually. The day when God shall take us out of this
World, will be, The day when the Lord will deliver us
from the hand of all our Enemies, and from the hand of
Satan. In such a day, why should not our song be that
of the Psalmist, Blessed be my Rock, and let the God of
my Salvation le exalted ! While we are here, we are in
the valley of the shadow of death ; and what is it that
makes it so1? Tis because the wild Beasts of Hell are
lurking on every side of us, and every minute ready to
salley forth upon us. But our Death will fetch us out of
that Valley, and carry us where we shall be for ever with
the Lord. We are now under the daily Bufetings of the
Devil, and he does molest us with such Fiery Darts, as
cause us even to cry out, / am weary of my Life. Yea,
but are we as willing to die, as, weary of Life? Our Death
will then soon set us where we cannot be reach'd by the
Fist of Wickedness; and where the Perfect cannot le
shotten at. It is said in Rev. 14. 13. Blessed are the
Dead which die in the Lord, they rest from their labours.

68 THE WONDERS OF

But we may say, Blessed are the Dead in the Lord, inas-
much as they rest from the Devils / Our dying will be but
our taking iving: When attended with a Convoy of winged
Angels, we shall be convey'd into that Heaven, from whence
the Devil having been thrown he shall never more come
thither after us. What if God should now say to us, as to
Moses, Go up and die I As long as we go ^lp, when we
die, let us receive the Message with a joyful Soul; we shall
soon be there, where the Devil can't come down upon us.
If the God of our Life should now send that Order to us,
which he gave to Hezeldah, Set thy house in order, for
thou shalt die, and not live; we need not be cast into such
deadly Agonies thereupon, as Hezekiah was : We are but
going to that House, the Golden Doors whereof, cannot be
entred by the Devil that here did use to persecute us.
Methinks I see the Departed S}nrit of a Believer, tri-
umphantly carried thro' the Devils Territories, in such a
stately and Fiery Chariot, as the Spiritualizing Body of
Elias had ; methink I see the Devil, with whole Flocks of
Harpies, grinning at this Child of God, but unable to
fasten any of their griping Talons upon him : And then,
upon the utmost edge of our Atmosphere, methiuks, I over-
hear the holy Soul, with a most heavenly Gallantry, deri-
ding the defeated Fiend, and saying, Ah! Satan! Return
to thy Dungeons again ; / am going where thou canst not
come for ever ! 0 'tis a brave thing so to die ! and espe-
cially so to die, in our time. For, tho' when we call to
mind, That the Devils time is now but short, it may almost
make us wish to live unto the end of it ; and to say with
the Psalmist, Because the Lord ivill shortly appear in his

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 69

Glory, to build up Zion. 0 my God ! Take me not away
in the midst of my days. Yet when we bear in mind,
that the Devils Wrath is now most great, it would make
one willing to be out of the way. Inasmuch as now is the
time for the doing of those things in the prospect whereof
Balaam long ago cry'd out, Who shall live when such things
are done / We should not be inordinately loth to die at such
a time. In a word, the Times are so bad, that we may
well count it, as good a time to die in, as ever we saw.

Corollary V.

Good News for the Israel of God, and particularly for
his New-English Israel. If the Devils Time were above
a thousand years ago, pronounced short, what may we
suppose it now in our Time ? Surely we are not a thousand
years distant from those happy thousand years of rest and
peace, and [which is better] Holiness reserved for the
People of God in the latter days ; and if we are not a
thousand years yet short of that Golden Age, there is
cause to think, that we are not an hundred. That the
blessed Thousand years are not yet begun, is abundantly
clear from this, We do not see the Devil bound ; No, the
Devil was never more let loose than in our Days ; and it is
very much that any should imagine otherwise : But the
same thing that proves the Thousand Years of prosperity
for the Church of God, under the whole Heaven, to be not
yet begun, does also prove, that it is not very/ar off ; and
that is the prodigious wrath with which the Devil does in
our days Persecute, yea, desolate the World. Let us cast
our Eyes almost where we will, and we shall see the Devils

70 THE WONDERS OF

domineering at such a rate as may justly fill us with astonish-
ment ; it is questionable whether Iniquity ever were so
rampant, or whether Calamity were ever so pungent, as in
this Lamentable time ; We may truly say, 'Tis the Hour
and the Power of Darkness. But, tho the wrath be so
great, the time is but short : when we are perplexed with
the iwath of the Devil, the Word of our God at the same
time unto us, is that in Rom. 16. 20. The God of Peace
shall bruise Satan under your feet Shortly. Shortly, didst
thou say, dearest Lord ! 0 gladsome word ! Amen, Even
so, come Lord ! Loi*d Jesus, come quickly ! We shall never
be rid of this troublesome Devil, till thou do come to Cha.in
him up.

But because the People of God, would willingly be told
whereabouts we are, with reference to the imuth and the
time of the Devil, you shall give me leave humbly to set
before you a few Conjectures.

The first Conjecture.

The Devils Eldest Son seems to be towards the Eml of
his last Half-time ; and if it be so, the Devils Whole-time,
cannot but be verv near its End. It is a very scandalous
thing that any Protestant, should be at a loss where to find
the Anti-Christ. But, we have a sufficient assurance, that
the Duration of Anti-Christ, is to be but for a Time, and
for Times, and for Haifa time ; that is for Twelve hundred
and Sixty Years. And indeed, those Twelve Hundred
and Sixty Years, were the very Spott of Time left for the
Devil, and meant when 'tis here said, He has but a shoi^t
time. Now, I should have an easie time of it, if I were

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 71

never put upon an Harder Task, than to produce what
might render it extreamly probable, that Antichrist entred
his last Half-time, or the last Hundred and Fourscore
yeais of his Reign, at or soon after the celebrated Refor-
mation which began at the year 15 17 in the former century.
Indeed, it is veiy agreeable to see how Antichrist then
lost Half of his Empire ; and how that half which then
becaite Reformed, have been upon many accounts little
more than Half-reformed. But by this computation, we
must reeds be within a very few years of such a Mortifica-
tion to befal the See of Rome, as that Antichrist, who has
lately leen planting (what proves no more lasting than) a
Tabernacle in the Glorious Holy Mountain betiveen the
Seas, must quickly, Come to his End, and none shall help
him. So then, within a very little while, we shall see the
Devil stript of the grand, yea, the last, Vehicle, wherein
he will be capable to abuse our World. The Fires, with
which, That Beast is to be consumed, will so singe the
Wings of the Devil too, that he shall no more set the
Affairs of this world on Fire. Yea, they shall both go into
the same Fire, to be tormented for ever and ever.

The Second Conjecture.

That which is, perhaps, the greatest Effect of the Devils
Wrath, seems to be in a manner at an end : and this would
make one hope that the Devils time cannot be far from its
end. It is in Persecution, that the wrath of the Devil uses
to break forth, with its greatest fury. Now there want
not probabilities, that the last Persecution intended for the
Church of God, before the Advent of our Lord, has been

72 THE WONDERS OF

upon it. When we see the second Woe passing away, we
have a fair signal given unto us, That the last slaughter of
our Lord's Witnesses is over; and then what Quickly
follows 1 The next thing is, The Kingdoms of this World,
are become the Kingdoms of Our Lord, and of his Christ^
and then down goes the Kingdom of the Devil, so th»t he
cannot any more come down upon us. Now, the Irre-
coverable and Irretrievable Humiliations that have lately
befallen the Turkish Power, are but so many Declarations
of the second Woe passing away. And the dealings of
God with the European parts of the world, at this day, do
further strengthen this our expectation. We do see, at
this hour a great Earth-quake all Europe over : tud we
shall see, that this great Earthquake, and these great
Commotions, will but contribute unto the advancement of
our Lords hitherto-depressed Interests. 'Tis also to be
remark'd that, a disposition to recognize the Empire of
God over the Conscience of man, does now prevail more in
the world than formerly ; and God from on High more
touches the Hearts of Princes and Rulers with an averse-
ness to Persecution. 'Tis particularly the unspeakable
happiness of the English Nation, to be under the Influences
of that excellent Queen, who could say, In as much as a
man cannot make himself believe what he will, why should
we Persecute men for not believing as we do? I wish I
could see all good men of one mind; but in the mean time
I pray, let them however love one another. Words
worthy to be written in Letters of Gold ! and by us the
more to be considered, because to one of Ours did that royal
Person express Her self so excellently, so obligingly.

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 73

When the late King James published his Declaration for
Liberty of Conscience, a worthy Divine in the Church of
England, then studying the Revelation, saw cause upon
Revdational Grounds, to declare himself in such words as
these, Whatsoever others may intend or design by this
Liberty of Conscience, I cannot believe, that it will ever be
recalled in England, as long as the World stands. And
you know how miraculously the Earth-quake which then
immediately came upon the Kingdom, has established that
Liberty ! But that which exceeds all the tendencies this
way, is, the dispensation of God at this Day, towards
the blessed Vaudois. Those renowned IValdenses, which
were a sort of Root unto all Protestant Churches, were
never dissipated, by all the Persecutions of many Ages, till
within these few years, the French King and the Duke of
Savoy leagued for their dissipation. But just Three years
and a half after the scattering of that holy people, to the
surprise of all the World, Spirit of life from God is come
into them ; and having with a thousand Miracles repossessed
themselves of their antient Seats, their hot Persecutor is
become their great Protector. Whereupon the reflection
of the worthy person, that writes the story is, The Churches
o/Tiemont, being the Root oftJie Protestant Churches, they
have been the first established; the Churches of 'oilier places^
being but the Branches, shall be established in due time.
God will deliver them speedily, He has already delivered
the Mother, and He will not long lea ve the Daughter behind:
He will finish what he has gloriously begun!

74 THE WONDERS OF

The Third Conjecture.

There is a little room for hope, that the great wrath of
the Devil, will not prove the present mine of our poor New-
England in particular. I believe, there never was a poor
Plantation, more pursued by the wrath of the Devil, than
our poor New- England; and that which makes our con-
dition very much the more deplorable is, that the wrath of
the great God Himself, at the same time also presses hard
upon us. It was a rousing alarm to the Devil, when a
great Company of English Protestants and Puritans, came
to erect Evangelical Churches, in a corner of the World,
where he had reign 'd without any coutroul for many Ages ;
and it is a vexing Eye-sore to the Devil, that our Lord
Christ should be known, and own'd, and preached in this
howling Wilderness. Wherefor he has left no Stone un-
turned, that so he might undermine his Plantation, and
force us out of our Country.

First, The Indian Poivawes, used all their Sorceries to
molest the first Planters here; but God said unto them,
Touch them not ! Then, Seducing Spirits came to root in
this Vineyard, but God so rated them off, that they have
not prevail'd much farther than the Edges of our Land.
After this, we have had a continual blast upon some of our
principal Grain, annually diminishing a vast part of our
ordinary Food. Herewithal, wasting Sicknesses, especially
Burning and Mortal Agues, have Shot the Arrows of
Death in at our Windows. Next, we have had many
Adversaries of our own Language, who have been per-
petually assaying to deprive us of those English Liberties,

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 75

in the encouragement whereof these Territories have been
settled. As if this had not been enough; The Taivnies
among whom we came, have watered our Soil with the
Blood of many Hundreds of our Inhabitants. Desolating
Fires also have many times laid the chief Treasure of the
whole Province in Ashes. As for Losses by Sea, they have
been miiltiply'd upon us : and particularly in the present
French War, the whole English Nation have observ'd that
no part of the Nation has proportionably had so many
Vessels taken, as our poor New-England. Besides all
which, now at last the Devils are (if I may so speak) in
Person come down upon us with such a Wrath, as is justly
much, and will quickly be more, the Astonishment of the
World. Alas, I may sigh over this "Wilderness, as Moses
did over his, in Psal. 90. 7. 9. We are consumed by thine
Anger, and by thy Wrath we are troubled: All our days
are passed away in thy Wrath. And I may add this unto
it, The Wrath of the Devil too has been troubling and
spvnding of us, all our days.

But what will become of this poor New-England after
all? Shall we sink, expire, perish, before the short time of
the Devil shall be finished? I must confess, That when I
consider the lamentable Unfruitfulness of men, among us,
under as powerful and perspicuous Dispensations of the
Gospel, as are in the World; and when I consider the
declining state of the Pmver of Godliness in our Churches,
with the most horrible Indisposition that perhaps ever was,
to recover out of this declension ; I cannot but Fear lest it
comes to this, and lest an Asiatic Removal of Candlesticks
come upon us. But upon some other Accounts, I would

76 THE WONDERS OF

fain hope otherwise; and I will give you therefore the
opportunity to try what Inferences may be drawn from these
probable Prognostications.

I say, First, That surely, America's Fate, must at the
long run include New-England* in it. What was the
design of our God, in bringing over so many Europeans
hither of later years? Of what use or state will America
be, when the Kingdom of God shall come? If it must all
be the Devils propriety, while the saved Nations of the
other Hemisphere shall be Walking in the Light of the
New Jerusalem, Our New-England has then, 'tis likely,
done all that it was erected for. But if God have a purpose
to make here a seat for any of those glorious things which
are spoken of thee, 0 thou City of God; then even thou,

0 New-England, art within a very little while of better
days than ever yet have dawn'd upon thee.

I say, Secondly, That tho' there be very Threatning
Symptoms on America, yet there are some hopeful ones.

1 confess, when one thinks upon the crying Barbarities with
which the most of those Europeans that have Peopled this
New world, became the Masters of it; it looks but Omi-
nously. When one «lso thinks how much the way of living
in many parts of America, is utterly inconsistent with the
very Essentials of Christianity; yea, how much Injury
and Violence is therein done to Humanity it self; it is
enough to damp the Hopes of the most Sanguine Com-
plexion. And the Frown of Heaven which has hitherto
been upon Attempts of better Gospellizing the Plantations,
considered, will but increase the Damp. Nevertheless, on
the other side, what shall be said of all the Promises, That

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 77

our Lord Jesus Christ shall have the uttermost parts of the
Earth for his Possession? and of all the Prophecies, That
All the ends of the Earth shall remember and turn unto
the Lord? Or does it look agreeably, That such a rich
quarter of the World, equal in some regards to all the rest,
should never be out of the Devils hands, from the first
Inhabitation unto the last Dissolution of it? No sure; why
may not the last be the first? and the Sun of Righteous-
ness come to shine brightest, in Climates which it rose
latest upon!

I say, Thirdly, That as it fares with Old England, so
it will be most likely to fare with New-England. For
which cause, by the way, there may be more of the Divine
Favour in the present Circumstances of our dependence on
England^ than we are well aware of. This is very sure,
if matters go ill with our Mother, her poor American
Daughter here, must feel it; nor could our former Happy
Settlement have hindred our sympathy inthatUnhappiness.
But if matters go Well in the Three Kingdoms ; as long
as God shall bless the English Nation, with Rulers that
shall encourage Piety, Honesty, Industry, in their Subjects,
and that shall cast a Benign Aspect upon the Interests of
our Glorious Gospel, Abroad as" well as at Home; so long,
Neio-England will at least keep its head above water : and
so much the more, for our comfortable Settlement in such
a Form as we are now cast into. Unless there should be
any singular, destroying, Topical Plagues, whereby an
offended God should at last make us Rise; But, Alas, 0
Lord, wliat other Hive hast thou provided for us !

I say, Fourthly, That the Elder England will certainly

78 THE JTOXDERS OF

and speedily be Visited with the ancient loving kindness of
God. When one sees, how strangely the Curse of our
Joshua, has fallen upon the Persons and Houses of them
that have attempted the Rebuilding of the Old Romish
Jericho, which has there been so far demolished, they cannot
but say, That the Reformation there, shall not only be
maintained, but also pursued, proceeded, perfected ; and
that God will shortly there have a New Jerusalem. Or,
Let a Man in his thoughts run over but the series of
amazing Providences towards the English Nation for the
last Thirty Years : Let him reflect, how many Plots for
the ruine of the Nation, have been strangely discovered :
yea, how very unaccountably those very Persons, yea, I
may also say, that those very Methods which were intended
for the tools of that ruine, have become the instruments or
occasions of Deliverances. A man cannot but say upon
these Reflections, as the Wife of Manoah once prudently
expressed her self, If the Lord ivere pleased to have De-
stroyed its, He would not have shew'd us all these things.
Indeed, It is not unlikely, that the Enemies of the English
Nation, may yet provoke such a Shake unto it, as may
perhaps exceed any that has hitherto been undergone :
the Lord prevent the Machinations of his Adversaries !
But that shake will usher in the most glorious Times that
ever arose upon the English Horizon. As for the French
Cloud which hangs over England, tho' it be like to Rain
showers of Blood upon a Nation, where the Blood of the
Blessed Jesus has been too much treated as an Unholy
Thing ; yet I believe God will shortly scatter it : and my
belief is grounded upon a bottom that will bear it. If that

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 79

overgrown French Leviathan should accomplish any thiKg
like a Conquest of England, what could there be to hinder
him from the Universal Empire of the West ? But the
Visions of the Western World, in the Views both of
Daniel and of John, do assure us, that whatever Monarch,
shall while the Papacy continues go to swallow up the Ten
Kings which received their Power upon the Fall of the
Western Empire, he must miscarry in the Attempt. The
French Phcetons Epitaph seems written hi that, Sure Word
of Prophecy.

[Since the making of this Conjecture, there are arriv'd
unto us, the News of a Victory ofetain'd by the English
over the French, which further confirms our Conjecture ;
and causes us to sing, Pharaohs CJiariots, and his Hosts,
has the Lord cast down into the Sea ; Thy right-hand has
dashed in pieces the Enemy /]

Now, In the Salvation of England, the Plantations
cannot but Rejoyce, and New-England, also will be Glad.

But so much for our Corollaries, I hasten to the main
thing designed for your entertainment. And that is,

AN HORTATORY AND NECESSARY ADDRESS,

TO A COUNTRY NOW EXTRAORDINARILY ALARUJl'D

BY THE WRATH OF THE DEVIL.

'TIS THIS,

LET us now make a good and a right use of the prodigi-
our descent which the Devil in Great Wrath is at this
day making upon our Land. Upon the Death of a Great

80 THE WONDERS OF

Man once, an Orator call'd the Town together, crying out,
Concurrite Gives, Dllapsa sunt vestra Moenia I that is,
Gome together, Neighbours, your Town- Walls are fallen
down! But such is the descent of the Devil at this day
upon our selves, that I may truly tell you, The Walls of
the whole World are broken down! The usual Walls of
defence about mankind have such a Gap made in them,
that the very Devils are broke in upon us, to seduce the
Souls, torment the Bodies, sully the Credits, and consume
the Estates of our Neighbours, with Impressions both as
real and as furious, as if the Invisible World were be-
coming Incarnate, on purpose for the vexing of us. And
what use ought now to be made of so tremendous a dis-
pensation ? We are engaged in a Fast this day ; but shall
we try to fetch Meat out of the Eater, and make the Lion
to afford some Hony for our Souls ?

That the Devil is come down unto us with great Wrath,
we find, we feel, we now deplore. In many ways, for many
years hath the Devil been assaying to Extirpate the King-
dom of our Lord Jesus here. New-England may complain
of the Devil, as in Psal. 129. 1, 2. Many a time have they
afflicted me,{from iny Youth, may New-England now say ;
Many a time have they afflicted me from my Youth; yet
they have not prevailed against me. But now there is a
more than ordinary affliction, with which the Devil is Galling
of us : and such an one as is indeed Unparallelable. The
things confessed by Witches, and the things endured by
Others, laid together, amount unto this account of our
Affliction. The Devil, Exhibiting himself ordinarily as a
small Black man, has decoy'd a fearful knot of proud,

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 81

froward, ignorant, envious and malicious creatures, to lift
themselves in his horrid Service, by entring their Names
in a Book by him tendred unto them. These Witches,
whereof above a Score have now Confessed, and shown their
Deeds, and some are now tormented by the Devils, for
Confessing, have met in Hellish Randezvouzes, wherein
the Confessors do say, they have had their Diabolical
Sacraments, imitating the Baptism and the Supper of our
Lord. In these hellish meetings, these Monsters have
associated themselves to do no less a thing than, To destroy
the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, in these parts of
the World; and in order hereunto, First they each of them
have their Spectres, or Devils, commission'd by them, &
representing of them, to be the Engines of their Malice.
By these wicked Spectres, they seize poor people about the
Country, with various & bloudy Torments ; and of those
evidently Preternatural torments there are some have dy'd.
They have bewitched some, even so far as to make Self-
destroyers : and others are in many Towns here and there
languishing under their Evil hands. The people thus
afflicted, are miserably scratched and bitten, so that the
Marks are most visible to all the World, but the causes
utterly invisible ; and the same Invisible Furies do most
visibly stick Pins into the bodies of the afflicted, and scale
them, and hideously distort, and disjoint all their members,
besides a thousand other sorts of Plagues beyond these of
any natural diseases which they give unto them. Yea,
they sometimes drag the poor people out of their chambers,
and carry them over Trees and Hills, for divers miles
together. A large part of the persons tortured by these
G

82 THE WONDEES OF

Diabolical Spectres, are horribly tempted by them, some-
times with fair promises, and sometimes with hard tbreat-
irings, but always with felt miseries, to sign the Devils
Laws in a Spectral Book laid before them ; which two or
three of these poor Sufferers, being by their tiresome suffer-
ings overcome to do, they have immediately been released
from all their miseries, and they appear'd in Spectre then
to Torture those that were before their Fellow-Sufferers.
The Witches which by their covenant with the Devil, are
become Owners of Spectres, are oftentimes by their own
Spectres required and compelled to give their consent, for
the molestation of some, which they had no mind otherwise
to fall upon ; and cruel depredations are then made upon
the Vicinage. In the Prosecution of these Witchcrafts,
among a thousand other unaccountable things, the Spectres
have an odd faculty of cloathing the most substantial and
corporeal Instruments of Torture, with Invisibility, while
the wounds thereby given have been the most palpable
things in the World ; so that the Sufferers assaulted with
Instruments of Iron, wholly unseen to the standers by,
though, to their cost, seen by themselves, have, upon
snatching, wrested the Instruments out of the Spectres
hands, and every one has then immediately not only beheld,
but handled, an Iron Instrument taken by a Devil from a
Neighbour. These wicked Spectres have proceeded so far,
as to steal several quantities of Mony from divers people, part
of which Money, has, before sufficient Spectators, been
dropt out of the Air into the Hands of the Sufferers, while
the Spectres have been urging them to subscribe their
Covenant with Death. In such extravagant ways have these

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 83

Wretches propounded, the Dragooning of as many as they
c;m, in their own Combination, and the Destroying of
others, with lingring, spreading, deadly diseases ; till our
Gountrey should at last become too hot for us. Among the
Ghastly Instances of the success which those Bloody Witches
have had, we have seen even some of their own Children,
so dedicated unto the Devil, that in their Infancy, it is
found, the Imps have sucked them, and rendred them Ve-
nemous to a Prodigy. We have also seen the Devils first
batteries upon the Town, where the first Church of our
Lord in this Colony was gathered, producing those dis-
tractions, which have almost ruin'd the Town. We have
seen likewise the Plague reaching afterwards into other
Towns far and near, where the Houses of good Men have
the Devils filling of them with terrible Vexations !

This is the Descent, which, it seems, the Devil has now
made upon us. But that which makes this Descent the
more formidable, is ; The multitude and quality of Persons
accused of an interest in this Witchcraft, by the Efficacy of
the Spectres which take their Name and shape upon them ;
causing veiy many good and wise Men to fear, That many
innocent, yea, and some vertuous persons, are by the Devils
in this matter, imposed upon ; That the Devils have obtain'd
the power, to take on them the likeness of harmless people,
and in that likeness to afflict other people, and be so abused
by Prestigious Daemons, that upon their look or touch, the
afflicted shall be odly affected. Arguments from the
Providence of God, on the one side, and from our Charity
towards Man on the other side, have made this now to
become a most agitated Controversie among us. There

84 THE WONDERS OF

is an Agony produced in the Minds of Men, lest the
Devil should sham us with Devices, of perhaps a finer
Thred, than was ever yet practised upon the World. The
whole business is become hereupon so Snarled, and the
determination of the Question oneway or another, so dismal,
that our Honourable Judges have a Room forJehoshaphat's
Exclamation, We know not what to do I They have used,
as Judges have heretofore done, the Spectral Evidences, to
introduce their further Enquiries into the Lives of the
persons accused ; and they have thereupon, by the wonder-
ful Providence of God, been so strengthened with other
evidences, that some of the Witch Gang have been fairly
Executed. But what shall be done, as to those against
whom the evidence is chiefly founded in the dark world ?
Here they do solemnly demand our Addresses to the Father
of Lights, on their behalf. But in the mean time, the
Devil improves the Darkness of this Affair, to push us into
a Blind Mans Buffet, and we are even ready to be sinfully,
yea, hotly, and madly, mauling one another in the dark.

The consequence of these things, every considerate Man
trembles at ; and the more, because the frequent cheats of
Passion, and Rumour, do precipitate so many, that I wish
I could say, The most were considerate.

But that which carries on theformidablenessof our Trials,
unto that which may be called, A wrath unto the utter-
most, is this : It is not without the wrath of the Almighty
God himself, that the Devil is permitted thus to come down
upon us in wrath. It was said, in Isa. 9. 19. Through
the wrath of the Lord of Hosts, the Land is darkned. Our
Land is darkned indeed ; since the Powers of Darkness

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 85

are turned in upon us : 'tis a dark time, yea a black night
indeed, now the Ty-dogs of the Pit are abroad among us :
but, It is through the wrath of the Lord of Hosts ! Inas-
much as the Fire-brands of Hell it self are used for the
scorching of us, with cause enough may we cry out, What
means the heat of this anger ? Blessed Lord ! Are all the
other Instruments of thy Vengeance, too good for the
chastisement of such transgressors as we are 1 Must the
very Devils be sent out of Their own place, to be our
Troublers : Must we be lash'd with Scorpions, fetch'd from
the Place of Torment ? Must this Wilderness be made a
Receptacle for the Dragons of the Wilderness ? If a Lap-
land should nourish in it vast numbers, the successors of
the old Biarmi, who can with looks or words bewitch other
people, or sell Winds to Marriners, and have their Familiar
Spirits which they bequeath to their Children when they
die, and by their Enchanted Kettle-Drums can learn things
done a Thousand Leagues off ; If a Swedeland should afford
a Village, where some scores of Haggs, may not only have
their Meetings with Familiar Spirits, but also by their
Enchantments drag many scores of poor children out of
their Bed-chambers, to be spoiled at those Meetings ; This
were not altogether a matter of so much wonder ! But that
New-England should this way be harassed ! They are not
CJialdeans, that Bitter and Hasty Nation, but they are,
Bitter and Burning Devils ; They are not Swarthy Indians,
but they are Sooty Devils ; that are let loose upon us.
Ah, Poor New-England! Must the plague of Old ^Egypt
come upon thee ? Whereof we read in Psal. 78. 49. He
cast upon them the fierceness of his Anger, Wrath, and

86 THE WONDERS OF

Indignation, and Trouble, by sending Evil Angels among
hem. What, 0 what must next be looked forl Must
that which is there next mentioned, be next encountered 1
He spared not their soul from death, but gave their life
over to the Pestilence. For my part, when I consider what
Melancthon says, in one of his Epistles, That these Dia-
bolical Spectacles are of ten Prodigies; and when I consider,
how often people have been by Spectres called upon, just
before their Deaths ; I am verily afraid, lest some wasting
Mortality be among the things, which this Plague is the
Forerunner of. I pray God prevent it !
But now, What shall we do ?

I. Let the Devils coming down in great wrath upon us,
cause us to come down in great grief before the Lord.
We may truly and sadly say, We are brought very low!
Low indeed, when the Serpents of the dust, are crawling
and coyling about us, and Insulting over us. May we not
say, We are in the very belly of Hell, when Hell it self
is feeding upon us ? But how Low is that ! 0 let us then
most penitently lay our selves very Low before the God of
Heaven, who has thus Abased us. When a Truculent
Nero, a Devil of a Man, was turned in upon the World, it
was said, in 1 Pet. 5. 6. Humble your selves under the
mighty hand of God. How much more now ought we to
humble our selves under that Mighty Hand of that God who
indeed has the Devil in a Chain, but has horribly length-
ened out the Chain ! When the old people of God heard
any Blasphemies, tearing of his Ever-Blessed Name to
pieces, they were to Rend their Cloaths at what they heard.
I am sure that we have cause to Rend our Hearts this Day,

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 87

when we see what an High Treason has been committed
against the most high God, by the Witchcrafts in our
Neighbourhood. We may say ; and shall we not be humbled
when we say it ? We liave seen an horrible thing done in
our Land I 0 'tis a most humbling thing, to think, that
ever there should be such an abomination among us, as for
a crue of humane race, to renounce their Maker, and to
unite with the Devil, for the troubling of mankind, and for
People to be, (as is by some confess'd) Baptized by a
Fiend using this form upon them, Thou art mine, and I
have a full power over thee! afterwards communicating in
an Hellish Bread, and Wine, by that Fiend administred
unto them. It was said in Deut. 18. 10, 11, 12. There
s/iall not be found among you an Inchanter, or a Witch,
or a CJiarmer, or a Consulter with Familiar Spirits, or a
Wizzard, or a Necromancer; For all that do these things
are an Abomination to the Lord,and because of 'these Abomi-
nations, the Lord thy God doth drive them out before thee.
That New- England now should have these Abominations
in it, yea, that some of no mean Profession, should be found
guilty of them : Alas, what Humiliations are we all hereby
obliged unto ? 0 'tis a Defiled Land, wherein we live ; Let
us be humbled for these Defiling Abominations, lest we be
driven out of our Land. It's a very humbling thing to
think, what reproaches will be cast upon us, for this matter,
among The Daughters of the Philistines. Indeed, enough
might easily be said for the vindication of this Country
from the Singularity of this matter, by ripping up, what
has been discovered in others. Great Britain alone, and
this also in our days of Greatest Light, has had that in it,

88 THE WONDERS OF

which may divert the Calumnies of an ill-natured World,
from centring here. They are words of the Devout Bishop
Hall, Satans prevalency in this Age, is most clear in the
marvellous Number of Witches, abounding in all places.
Now Hundreds are discovered in one Shire; and, if Fame
Deceives us not, in a Village of Fourteen Houses in the
North, are found so many of this Damned Brood. Yea,
and those of both Sexes, who have professed much Know-
ledge, Holiness, and Devotion, are drawn into this Damn-
able Practice. I suppose the Doctor in the first of those
Passages, may refer to what happened in the Year 1645.
When so many Vassals of the Devil were Detected, that
there were Thirty try'd at one time, whereas about four-
teen were Hang'd, and an Hundred more detained in the
Prisons of Suffolk and Essex. Among other things which
many of these Acknowledged, one was, That they were to
undergo certain Punishments, if they did not such and such
Hurts, as were appointed them. And, among the rest
that were then Executed, there was an Old Parson, called
Lowis, who confessed, That he had a couple of Imps,
whereof one was always putting him upon the doing of
Mischief; Once pa^icularly, that Imp calling for his Con-
sent so to do, went immediately and Sunk a Ship, then
under Sail. I pray, let not New-England become of an
Unsavoury and a Sulphurous Kesentment in the Opinion
of the World abroad, for the Doleful things which are now
fallen out among us, while there are such Histories of other
places abroad in the World. Nevertheless, I am sure that
we, the People of New-England, have cause enough to
Humble our selves under our most Humbling Circum-

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 89

stances. "We must no more be Haughty, because of the
Lords Holy Mountain among us; No it becomes us rather
to be, Humble, because we have been such an Habitation of
Unholy Devils!

II. Since the Devil is come down in great wrath upon
us, let not us in our great wrath against one another provide
a Lodging for him. It was a most wholesome caution, in
Eph. 4. 26. 27. Let not the Sun go down upon your wrath :
Neither give place to the Devil. The Devil is come down
to see what Quarter he shall find among us : And if his
coming down, do now fill us with wrath against one another,
and if between the cause of the Sufferers on one hand, and
the cause of the Suspected on t'other, we carry things to
such extreams of Passion as are now gaining upon us, the
Devil will Bless himself, to find such a convenient Lodging
as we shall therein afford unto him. And it may be that
the wrath which we have had against one another has had
more than a little influence upon the coming down of the
Devil in that wrath which now amazes us. Have not
many of us been Devils one unto another for Slanderings,
for Backbitings, for Animosities ? For this, among other
causes, perhaps, God has permitted the Devils to be worry-
ing, as they now are, among us. But it is high time to
leave off all Devilism, when the Devil himself is falling
upon us : And it is no time for us to be Censuring and
Reviling one another, with a Devilish wrath, when the
wrath of the Devil is annoying of us. The way for us to
out-wit the Devil, in the Wiles with which he now Vexes
us, would be for us to joyn as one man in our cries to God,
for the Directing, and Issuing of this Thorny Business ;

90 THE WONDERS OF

but if we do not Lift up our Hands to Heaven, without
Wrath, we cannot then do it without Doubt, of speeding
in it. I am ashamed when I read French Authors giving
this Character of Englishmen [Us se haissent Les uns les
autres, & sont en Division ContinuelleJ] They hate one
another, and are always Quarrelling one with another.
And I shall be much more ashamed, if it become the
Character of New-Englanders ; which is indeed what the
Devil would have. Satan would make us bruise one
another, by breaking of the Peace among us ; but 0 let us
disappoint him. We read of a thing that sometimes
happens to the Devil, when he is foaming with his Wrath,
in Mar. 12. 43. The unclean Spirit seeks rest, andjinds
none. But we give rest unto the Devil, by wrath one
against another. If we would lay aside all fierceness, and
keenness, in the disputes which the Devil has raised among
us ; and if we would use to one another none but the soft
Answers, which turn away wrath: I should hope that we
might light upon such Counsels, as would quickly Extricate
us out of our Labyrinths. But the old Incendiary of the
world, is corne from Hell, with Sparks of Hell-Fire flash-
ing on every side of him ; and we make our selves Tynder
to the Sparks. When the Emperour Henry III. kept the
Feast of Pentecost, at the City Mentz, there arose a dis-
sension among some of the people there, which came from
words to blows, and at last it passed on to the shedding of
Blood. After the Tumult was over, when they came to
that clause in their Devotions, Thou hast made this day
Glorious ; the Devil to the unexpressible Terrour of that
vast Assembly, made the Temple Ring with that Outcry,

TEE INVISIBLE WORLD. 91

But I have made this Day Quarrelsome ! We are truly
come into a day, which by being well managed might be
very Glorious, for the exterminating of those Accursed
things, which have hitherto been the Clogs of our Pros-
perity ; but if we make this day Quarrelsome, thro' any
Raging Confidences, Alas, 0 Lord, my Flesh Trembles for
Fear of thee, and I am afraid of thy Judgments. Eras-
mus, among other Historians, tells us, that at a Town in
Germany, a Witch or Devil, appeared on the Top of a
Chimney, Threatning to set the Town on Fire : And at
length, Scattering a Pot of Ashes abroad, the Town was
presently and horribly Burnt unto the Ground. Methinks,
I see the Spectres, from the Top of the Chimneys to the
Northward, threatning to scatter Fire, about the Countrey ;
but let us quench that Fire, by the most amicable Corres-
pondencies : Lest, as the Spectres, have, they say, already
most Literally burnt some of our Dwellings, there do come
forth a further Fire from the BramUes of Hell, which may
more terribly Devour us. Let us not be like a Troubled
House, altho' we are so much haunted by the Devils. Let
our Long suffering be a well-placed piece of Armour, about
us, against the Fiery Darts of the wicked ones. History
informs us, That so long ago, as the year 858, a certain Pes-
tilent and Malignant sort oi&Dwmon, molested Caumont in
Germany with all sorts of methods to stir up strife among
the Citizens. He uttered Prophecies, he detected Villanies,
he branded people with all kinds of Infamies. He incensed
the Neighbourhood against one Man particularly, as the
cause of all the mischiefs : who yet proved himself innocent.
He threw stones at the Inhabitants, and at length burnt

92 THE WONDERS OF

their Habitations, till the Commission of the Daemon could
go no further. I say, Let us be well aware lest such
Daemons do Come hither also.

III. Inasmuch as the Devil is come down in Great
Wrath, we had need Labour, with all the Care and Speed
we can to Divert the Great Wrath of Heaven from coming
at the same time upon us. The God of Heaven has with
long and loud Admonitions, been calling us to a Reforma-
tion of our Provoking Evils, as the only way to avoid that
Wrath of His, which does not only Threaten but Consume
us. 'Tis because we have been Deaf to those Calls that
we are now by a provoked God, laid open to the Wrath of
the Devil himself. It is said in Pr. 16. 17. When a mans
ways please the Lord, he maketh even his Enemies to be at
peace with him. The Devil is our grand Enemy ; and
tho' we would not be at peace with him, yet we would be
at peace from him, that is, we would have him unable to
disquiet our peace. But inasmuch as the wrath which we
endure from this Enemy, will allow us no peace, we may
be sure, our ways liave not pleased the Lord. It is because
we have broken the hedge of Gods Precepts, that the hedge
of Gods Providence is not so entire as it uses to be about
us ; but Serpents are biting of us. 0 let us then set our
selves to make our peace with our God, whom we have
displeased by our iniquities : and let us not imagine that
we can encounter the Wrath of the Devil, while there is
the Wrath of God Almighty to set that Mastiff upon us.
REFORMATION ! REFORMATION ! has been the repeated
Cry of all the Judgments that have hitherto been upon us ;
because we have been as deaf Adders thereunto, the Adders

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 93

of the Infernal Pit are now hissing about us. At length,
as it was of old said, Luke 16. 30. If one went unto them
from the dead, they ivill repent; even so, there are some
come unto us from the Damned. The great God has loosed
the Bars of the Pit, so that many damned Spirits are come
in among us, to make us repent of our Misdemeanours.
The means which the Lord had formerly employ'd for our
awakening, were such, that he might well have said, What
could I have done more? and yet after all, he has done
more, in some regards, than was ever done for the awaken-
ing of any People in the World. The things now done
to awaken our Enquiries after our provoking Evils, and our
endeavours to Reform those Evils, are most extraordinary
things ; for which cause I would freely speak it, if we now
do not some extraordinary things in returning to God ;
we are the most incurable, and I wish it be not quickly
said, the most miserable People under the Sun. Believe
me, 'tis a time for all people to do something extraordinary,
in searching and trying of their ways, and in turning to
the Lord. It is at an extraordinary rate of Circumspec-
tion and Spiritual mindedness, that we should all now
maintain a walk with God. At such a time as this ought
Magistrates to do something extraordinary in promoting
of what is laudable, and in restraining and chastising of
Evil Doers. At such a time as this ought Ministers to do
something extraordinary in pulling the Souls of men out
of the Snares of the Devil, not only by publick Preaching,
but by personal Visits and Counsels, from house to house.
At such a time as this ought Churches to do something
extraordinary, in renewing of their Covenants, and in

94 THE WONDERS OF

rernembring, and reviving the Obligations of what they
have renewed. Some admirable Designs about the Refor-
mation of Manners, have lately been on foot in the English
Nation, in pursuance of the most excellent Admonitions
which have been given for it, by the Letters of Their
Majesties. Besides the vigorous Agreements of the
Justices here and there in the Kingdom, assisted by godly
Gentlemen and Informers, to Execute the Laws upon pro-
phane Offenders; there has been started a Proposal for
the well-affected people in every Parish, to enter into
orderly Societies, whereof every Member shall bind himself,
not only to avoid Prophaneness in himself, but also accord-
ing unto to their Place, to do their utmost in first Reproving;
and, if it must be so, then Exposing, and so Punishing,
as the Law directs, for others that shall be guilty. It has
been observed, that the English Nation has had some of its
greatest Successes, upon some special and signal Actions
this way; and a discouragement given under Legal Pro-
ceedings of this kind, must needs be very exercising to the
Wise that observe these things. But, 0 why should not
New-England be the most forward part of the English
Nation in such Reformations? Methinks I hear the Lord
from Heaven saying over us, 0 that my People had
hearkened unto me ; then I should soon have subdued the
Devils, as well as their other Enemies! There have been
some feeble Essays towards Reformation of late in our
Churches; but, I pray, what comes of them? Do we stay
till the Storm of his Wrath be over ? Nay, let us be doing
what we can, as fast as we can, to divert the Storm. The
Devils having broke in upon our World, there is great

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 95

asking, Who is it tliat has brought them in ? And many
do by Spectral Exhibitions come to be cry'd out upon. I
hope in Gods time it will be found, that among those that
are thus cry 'd out upon, there are persons yet Clear from
the great Transgression ; but indeed, all the Unreformed
among us, may justly be cry'd out upon, as having too
much of an hand in letting of the Devils into our Borders ;
'tis our Worldliness, our Formality, our Sensuality, and
our Iniquity that has help'd this letting of the Devils in .
0 let us then at last, consider our ways. Tis a strange
passage recorded by Mr. Clark in the Life of his Father,
That the People of his Parish, refusing to be Reclaimed
from their Sabbath breaking, by all the zealous Testimonies
which that good Man bore against it ; at last, on a night
after the people had retired home from a Revelling Propha-
nation of the Lords Day, there was heard a great Noise, with
rattling of Chains up and down the Town, and an horrid
Scent of Brimstone fill'd the Neighbourhood. Upon which
the guilty Consciences of the Wretches told them, the Devil
was come to fetch them away ; and it so terrifi'd them,
that an Eminent Reformation follow'd the Sermons which
that Man of God Preached thereupon. Behold, Sinners,
behold and wonder, lest you perish: the very Devils are
walking about our Streets, with lengthened Chains, making
a dreadful Noise in our Ears, and Brimstone even without
a Metaphor, is making an hellish and horrid stench in our
Nostrils. I pray leave off all those things whereof your
guilty Consciences may now accuse you, lest these Devils
do yet more direfully fall upon you. Reformation is at
this time our only Preservation.

96 THE WONDERS OF

IV. When the Devil is come down in great Wrath, let
every great Vice which may have a more particular ten-
dency to make us a Prey unto that Wrath, come into a
due discredit with us. It is the general Concession of all
men, who are not become too Unreasonable for common
Conversation, that the Invitation of Witchcrafts is the thing
that has now introduced the Devil into the midst of us. I
say then, let not only all Witchcrafts be duly abominated
with us, but also let us be duly watchful against all the Steps
leading thereunto. There are lesser Sorceries which they
say, are too frequent in our Land. As it was said in 2
King. 17. 9. The Children of Israel did secretly those
things that luere not right, against the Lord their God. So
'tis to be feared, the Children of New-England have secretly
done many things that have been pleasing to the Devil.
They say, that in some Towns it has been an usual thing
for People to cure Hurts with Spells, or to use detestable
Conjurations, with Sieves, Keys, and Pease, and Nails, and
Horse-shoes, and I know not what other Implements, to
learn the things for which they have a forbidden, and an
impious Curiosity. 'Tis in the Devils Name, that such
things are done ; and in Gods Name I do this day charge
them, as vile Impieties. By these Courses 'tis, that People
play upon The Hole of the Asp, till that cruelly venemous
Asp has pull'd many of them into the deep Hole of Witch-
craft it self. It has been acknowledged by some who have
sunk the deepest into this horrible Pit, that they began at
these little Witchcrafts ; on which 'tis pity but the Laws
of the English nation, whereby the incorrigible repetition
of those Tricks, is made Felony, were severely Executed.

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 97

From the like sinful Curiosity it is, that the Prognostica-
tions of Judicial Astrology, are so injudiciously regarded
by multitudes among us ; and altho' the Jugling Astrologers
do scarce ever hit right, except it be in such Weighty
Judgments, forsooth, as that many Old men will die such
a year, and that there will be many Losses felt by some
that venture to Sea, and that there will be much Lying and
Cheating in the World ; yet their foolish Admirers will not
be perswaded but that the Innocent Stars have been con-
cern'd in these Events. It is a disgrace to the English
Nation, that the Pamphlets of such idle, futil, trifling Star-
gazers are so much considered; and the Countenance
hereby given to a Study, wherein at last, all is done by
Impulse, if any thing be done to any purpose at all, is not
a little perillous to the Souls of Men. It is (a Science, I
dare not call it, but) a Juggle, whereof the Learned Hall
well says, It is presumptuous and unwarrantable, and
cry'd ever down by Councils and Fathers, as unlawful, as
that which lies in the mid-way between Magick and Im-
posture, and partakes not a little of both. Men consult
the Aspects of Planets, whose Northern or Southern motions
receive denominations from a Coelestial Dragon, till the
Infernal Dragon at length insinuate into them, with a
Poison of Witchcraft that can't be cured. Has there not
;dso been a world of discontent in our Borders? 'Tis no
wonder, that the fiery Serpents are so Stinging of us ; We
have been a most Murmuring Generation. It is not Irra-
tional, to ascribe the late Stupendious growth of Witches
among us, partly to the bitter discontents which Affliction
and Poverty has fill'd us with : it is inconceivable, what
H

98 THE WONDERS OF

advantage the Devil gains over men, by discontent. More-
over, the Sin of Unbelief may be reckoned as perhaps the
chief Crime of our Land. We are told, God swears in
wrath, against them that believe not; and what follows then
but this, That the Devil comes unto them in ivrath? Never
were the offers of the Gospel, more freely tendered, or more
basely despised, among any People under the whole Cope
of Heaven, than in this N. E. Seems it at all marvellous
unto us, that the Devil should get such footing in our
Country1? Why, 'tis because the Saviour has been slighted
here, perhaps more than any where. The Blessed Lord
Jesus Christ has been profering to us, Grace, and Glory,
and every good thing, and been alluring of us to Accept of
Him, with such Terms as these, Undone Sinner, I am All;
Art thou willing that I should be thy All ? But, as a proof
of that Contempt which this Unbelief has cast upon these
proffers, I would seriously ask of the so many Hundreds
above a Thousand People within these Walls ; which of you
all, 0 how few of you, can indeed say, Christ is mine, and
I am his, and he is the Beloved of my Soul ? I would only
say thus much : When the precious and glorious Jesus, is
Entreating of us *o Receive Him, in all His Offices, with
all His Benefits ; the Devil minds what Respect we pay
unto that Heavenly Lord ; if we Refuse Him that speaks
from Heaven, then he that, Comes from Hell, does with a
sort of claim set in, and cry out, Lord, since this wretch is
not willing that thou shouldst have him, I pray, let me.
have him. And thus, by the just vengeance of Heaven,
the Devil becomes a Master, a Prince, a God, unto the
miserable Unbelievers: but 0 what are many of them then

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 99

hurried unto ! All of these Evil Things, do I now set before
you, as Branded with the Mark of the Devil upon them.
V. With Great Regard, with Great Pity, should we Lay
to Heart the Condition of those, who are cast into Affliction,
by the Great Wrath of the Devil. There is a Number of
our good Neighbours, and some of them very particularly
noted for Goodness and Vertue, of whom we may say,
Lord, They are vexed with Devils. Their Tortures being
primarily Inflicted on their Spirits, may indeed cause the
Impressions thereof upon their Bodies to be the less Du-
rable, tho' rather the more Sensible: but they Endure
Horrible Things, and many have been actually Murdered.
Hard Censures now bestow'd upon these poor Sufferers,
cannot but be very Displeasing unto our Lord, who, as He
said, about some that had been Butchered by a Pilate, in
Luc. 13. 2, 3. Think ye that these were Sinners above
others, because they suffered such Things ? I tell you No,
But except ye Repent, ye shall all likewise Perish: Even
so, he now says, Think ye that they who now suffer by tlie
Devil, have been greater Sinners than their Neighbours ?
No, Do you Repent of your own Sins Lest the Devil come
to fall foul of you, as he has done to them. And if this be
so, How Rash a thing would it be, if such of the poor
Sufferers, as carry it with a Becoming Piety, Seriousness,
and Humiliation under their present Suffering, should be
unjustly Censured; or have their very Calamity imputed
unto them as a Crime ? It is an easie thing, for us to fall
into the Fault of, Adding Affliction to the Afflicted, and of,
Talking to the Grief of those that are already wounded.
Nor can it be wisdom to slight the Dangers of such a Fault.

100 THE WONDERS OF

In the mean time, We have no Bowels in us, if we do not
Compassionate the Distressed County of Essex, now crying
to all these Colonies, Have pity on me, 0 ye my Friends,
Have pity on me, for the Hand of the Lord has Touched
me, and the Wrath of the Devil has been therewithal turned
upon me. But indeed, if an hearty pity be due to any, I
am sure, the Difficulties which attend our Honourable
Judges, do demand no Inconsiderable share in that Pity.
What a Difficult, what an Arduous Task, have those Worthy
Personages now upon their Hands 1 To carry the Knife so
exactly, that on the one side, there may be no Innocent
Blood Shed, by too unseeing a Zeal for the Children of
Israel; and that on the other side, there may be no Shelter
given to those Diabolical Works of Darkness, without the
Eemoval whereof we never shall have Peace ; or to those
Furies whereof several have kill'd more people perhaps
than would serve to make a Village : Hie Labor, Hoc Opus
est ! 0 what need have we, to be concerned, that the Sins
of our Israel, may not provoke the God of Heaven to leave
his Davids, unto a wrong Step, in a matter of such Conse-
quence, as is now before them ! Our Disingenuous, Un-
charitable, Unchristian Reproaching of such Faithful Men,
after all, The Prayers and Supplications, with strong
Crying and Tears, with which we are daily plying the
Throne of Grace, that they may be kept, from what They
Fear, is none of the way for our preventing of what We
Fear. Nor all this while, ought our Pity to forget such
Accused ones, as call for indeed our most Compassionate
Pity, till there be fuller Evidences that they are less worthy
of it. If Satan have any where maliciously brought upon

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 101

the Stage, those that have hitherto had a just and good
stock of Reputation, for their just and good Living, among
us ; If the Evil One have obtained a permission to Appear,
in the Figure of such as we have cause to think, have
hitherto Abstained, even from the Appearance of Evil :
It is in Truth, such an Invasion upon Mankind, as may
well Raise an Horror in us all : But, 0 what Compassions
are due to such as may come under such Misrepresentations,
of the Great Accuser! Who of us can say, what may be
shewn in the Glasses of the Great Lying Spirit ? Altho'
the Usual Providence of God [we praise Him ! ] keeps us
from such a Mishap; yet where have we an Absolute Pro-
mise, that we shall every one always be kept from it? As
long as Charity is bound to Think no Evil, it will not Hurt
us that are Private Persons, to forbear the Judgmentwhich
belongs not unto us. Let it rather be our Wish, May the
Lord help them to Learn the Lessons, for which they are
now put unto so hard a School.

VI. With a Great Zeal, we should lay hold on the
Covenant of God, that we may secure Us and Ours, from
the Great Wrath, with which the Devil Rages. Let us
come into the Covenant of Grace, and then we shall not be
hook'd into a Covenant with the Devil, nor be altogether
unfurnished with Armour, against the Witches that are
in that Covenant. The way to come under the Saving
Influences of the New Covenant, is, to close with the Lord
Jesus Christ, who is the All-sufficient Mediator of it: Let
us therefore do, that, by Resigning up our selves unto the
Saving, Teaching, and Ruling Hands of this Blessed Me-
diator. Then we shall be, what we read in Jude 1. Pre-

102 THE WONDERS OF

served in Christ Jesus: That is, as the Destroying Angel,
could not meddle with such as had been distinguished, by
the Blood of the Passeover on their Houses : Thus the Blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ, Sprinkled on our Souls, will
Preserve us from the Devil. The Birds of prey (and in-
deed the Devils most literally in the shape of great Birds!)
are flying about. Would we find a Covert from these Vul-
tures? Let us then Hear our Lord Jesus from Heaven
Clocquing unto us, 0 that you ivould be gathered under my
wings ! Well ; When this is done, Then let us own the
Covenant, which we are now come into, by joining our
selves to a particular Church, walking in the Order of the
Gospel ; at the doing whereof, according to that Covenant
of God, We give up Our selves unto the Lord, and in Him
unto One Another. While others have had their Names
Entred in the Devils Book ; let our Names be found in the
Church Book, and let us be Written among the Living in
Jerusalem. By no means let, Church Work sink and fail
in the midst of us ; but let the Tragical Accidents which
now happen, exceedingly Quicken that work. So many of
the Rising Generation, utterly forgetting the Errand of
our Fathers to build Churches in this Wilderness, and so
many of our Cottages being allow'd to Live, where they
do not, and perhaps cannot, wait upon God with the Churches
of His People ; 'tis as likely as any one thing to procure
the swarmings of Witch crafts among us. But it becomes
us, with a like Ardour, to bring our poor Children with
us, as we shall do, when we come our selves, into the Cove-
nant of God. It would break an heart of Stone, to have
seen, what I have lately seen ; Even poor Children of

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 103

several Ages, even from seven to twenty, more or less,
Confessing their Familiarity with Devils; but at the same
time, in Doleful bitter Lamentations, that made a little
Pourtraiture of HM it self, Expostulating with their ex-
ecrable Parents, for Devoting them to the Devil in their
Infancy, and so Entailing of Devillism upon them ! Now,
as the Psalmist could say, My Zeal hath consumed me,
because my Enemies have forgotten thy words : Even so,
let the Nefarious wickedness of those that have Explicitly
dedicated their Children to the Devil, even with Devilish
Symbols, of such a Dedication, Provoke our Zeal to have
our Children, Sincerely, Signally, and openly Consecrated
unto God; with an Education afterwards assuring and
confirming that Consecration.

VII. Let our Prayer go up with great Faith, against
the Devil, that comes down in great Wrath. Such is the
Antipathy of the Devil to our Prayer, that he cannot bear
to stay long where much of it is: Indeed it is Diaboli
Flagellum, as well as, Miseries Remedium; the Devil will
soon be Scourg'd out of the Lord's Temple, by a Whip,
made and used, with the effectual fervent Prayer of Righ-
teous Men. When the Devil by Afflicting of us, drives us
to our Prayers, he is The Fool making a Whip for his
own Back. Our Lord said of the Devil in Matt. 17. 21.
This Kind goes not out, but by Prayer and Fasting* But,
Prayer and Fasting will soon make the Devil be gone.
Here are Charms indeed! Sacred and Blessed Charms,
which the Devil cannot stand before. A Promise of God,
being well managed in the Hands of them that are much
upon their Knees, will so resist the Devil, that he will

104 THE WONDERS OF

Flee from us. At every other Weapon the Devils will be
too hard for us ; the Spiritual Wickednesses in High
Places, have manifestly the Upper hand of us ; that Old
Serpent will be too old for us, too cunning, too subtil ; they
will soon out wit us, if we think to Encounter them with
any Wit of our own. But when we come to Prayers, In-
cessant and Vehement Prayers before the Lord, there we
shall be too hard for them. When well-directed Prayers,
that great Artillery of Heaven, are brought into the Field,
There methinks I see, There are these workers of Iniquity
fallen, all of them ! And who can tell, how much the most
Obscure Christian among you all, may do towards the
Deliverance of our Land from the Molestations which the
Devil is now giving to us. I have Read, That on a day of
Prayer kept by some good People for and with a Possessed
Person, the Devil at last flew out of the Window, and
referring to a Devout, plain, mean Woman then in the
Room, he cry'd out, 0 the Woman behind the Door! 'Tis
that Woman that forces me away! Thus the devil that
now troubles us, may be forced within a while to forsake
us ; and it shall be said, He was driven away by the
Prayers of some Obscure and Retired Souls, which the
World has taken but little notice of! The Great God is
about a Great Work at this day among us : Now, there is
extream Hazard, lest the Devil by Compulsion must submit
to that Great Work, may also by Permission, come to
Confound that Work; both in the Detections of some, and
in the Confessions of others, whose Ungodly deeds may be
brought forth, by a Great Work of God ; there is great
Hazard lest the Devil intertwist some of his Delusions.

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 105

'Tis PRAYER, I say, 'tis PRAYER, that must carry us well
through the strange things that are now upon us. Only
that Prayer must then be the Prayer of Faith : 0 where
is our Faith in him, Who hath spoiled these Principalities
and Powers, on his Cross, Triumphing over them!

VIII. Lastly, Shake off, every Soul, shake off the hard
Took of the Devil. Where 'tis said, The whole World
lyes in Wickedness ; 'tis by some of the Ancients rendred,
The ivhole World lyes in the Devil. The Devil is a Prince,
yea, the Devil is a God unto all the Unregeuerate ; and
alas, there is A whole World of them. Desolate Sinners,
consider what an horrid Lord it is that you are Enslav'd
unto ; and Oh shake off your Slavery to such a Lord. In-
stead of him, now make your Choice of the Eternal God
in Jesus Christ ; Chuse him with a most unalterable Re-
solution, and unto him say, with Thomas, My Lord, and
my God! Say with the Church, Lord, other Lords have
had the Dominion over us, but now thou alone shalt be our
Lord for ever. Then instead of your Perishing under the
wrath of the Devils, God will fetch you to a place among
those that fill up the Room of the Devils, left by their Fall
from the Ethereal Regions. It was a* most awful Speech
made by the Devil, Possessing a young Woman, at a
Village in Germany, By the command of God, I am come
to Torment the Body of this young Woman, tho I cannot
hurt her Soul ; and it is that I may warn Men, to take
heed of sinning against God. Indeed (said he) 'tis very
sore against my will that I do it ; but the command of
God forces me to declare wJiat I do ; however I know that
at the Last Day, I shall have more Souls than Godhimself.

106 THE WONDERS OF

So spoke that horrible Devil! But 0 that none of our
Souls may be found among the Prizes of the Devil, in the
Day of God ! 0 that what the Devil has been forced to
declare, of his Kingdom among us, may prejudice our
Hearts against him for ever!

My Text says, The Devil is come down in great Wrath,
for he has but a short time. Yea, but if you do not by a
speedy and through conversion to God, escape the Wrath
of the Devil, you will your selves go down, where the Devil
is to be, and you will there be sweltring under the Devils
Wrath, not for a short Time, but, World without end ; not
for a Short Time, but for Infinite Millions of Ages. The
smoak of your Torment under that Wrath, will Ascend for
ever and ever ! Indeed, the Devil's time for his Wrath
upon you in this World, can be but short, but his time for
you to do his Work, or, which is all one, to delay your
turning to God, that is a Long Time. When the Devil
was going to be Dispossessed of a Man, he Roar'd out, Am
I to be Tormented before my time ? You will Torment
the Devil, if you Rescue your Souls out of his hands, by
true Repentance : If once you begin to look that way, he'll
Cry out, 0 this is before my Time, I must have more Time
yet in the Service of such a guilty Soul. But, I beseech
you, let us join thus to torment the Devil, in an holy
Revenge upon him, for all the Injuries which he has done
unto us; let us tell him, Satan, thy time with me is but
short, Nay, thy time with me shall be no more ; I am
unutterably sorry that it has been so much ; Depart from
me thou Evil-Doer, that thou would 'st have me to be an Evil
Doer like thy self; I will now for ever keep the Command-

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 107

ments of that God, in whom I Live and Move, and have
my Being ! The Devil has plaid a fine Game for himself
indeed, if by his troubling of our Land, the Souls of many
People should come to think upon their ways, till even they
turn their Feet into the Testimonies of tJie Lord. Now
that the Devil may be thus outshot in his own Bow, is the
desire of all that love the Salvation of God among us, as
well as of. him, who has thus Addressed you. Amen.

HAVING thus discoursed on the Wonders of the In-
visible World, I shall now, with God's help, go on to
relate some Remarkable and Memorable Instances of
Wonders which that World has given to ourselves. And
altho the chief Entertainment which my Readers do expect,
and shall receive, will be a true History of what has
occurred, respecting the WITCHCRAFTS wherewith we are
at this day Persecuted ; yet I shall choose to usher in the
mention of those things, with

A NARRATIVE OF AN APPARITION WHICH

A GENTLEMAN IN BOSTON, HAD OF HIS BROTHER,
JUST THEN MURTHERED IN LONDON.

IT was on the Second of May in the Year 1687, that a
most ingenious, accomplished and well-disposed Gen-
tleman, Mr. Joseph Beacon, by Name, about Five a Clock
in the Morning, as he lay, whether Sleeping or Waking
he could not say, (but judged the latter of them) had a

108 THE WONDERS OF

View of his Brother then at London, altho he was now
himself at Our Boston, distanced from him a thousand
Leagues. This his Brother appear'd unto him, in the
Morning about Five a Clock at Boston, having on him a
Bengal Gown, which he usually wore, with a Napkin tyed
about his Head ; his Countenance was very Pale, Gastly,
Deadly, and he had a bloody wound on one side of his
Fore-head. Brother! says the Affrighted Joseph. Brother!
Answered the Apparition. Said Joseph, What's the matter,
Brother? How came you here ! The Apparition replied,
Brother, I have been most barbarously and injuriously
Butchered, by a Debauched Drunken Fellow, to whom I
never did any torong in my Life. Whereupon he gave a
particular Description of the Murderer : adding, Brother,
This Fellow changing his Name, is attempting to come over
unto New-England, in Foy, or Wild ; / would pray you
on the first Arrival of either of these, to get an Order from
the Governor, to Seize the Person, whom I have now de-
scribed ; and then do you Indict him for the Murder of
me your Brother: I'll stand by you and prove the Indict-
ment. And so he Vanished. Mr. Beacon was extreamly
astonished at what he had seen and hear'd ; and the People
of the Family not only observed an extraordinary Alteration
upon him, for the Week following, but have also given me
under their Hands a full Testimony, that he then gave
them an Account of this Apparition.

All this while, Mr. Beacon had no advice of any thing
amiss attending his Brother then \i\England; but about the
latter end of June following, he understood by the common
ways of Communication, that the April before, his Brother

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 109

going in haste by Night to call a Coach for a Lady, met
a Fellow then in Drink, with his Doxy in his hand : Some
way or other the Fellow thought himself Affronted with
the hasty passage of this Beacon, and immediately ran into
the Fire-side of a Neighbouring Tavern, from whence he
fetch'd out a Fire-fork, wherewith he grievously wounded
Beacon in the Skull; even in that very part where the
Apparition show'd his Wound. Of this Wound he Lan-
guished until he Dyed on the Second of May, about five
of the Clock in the Morning at London. The Murderer
it seems was endeavouring to Escape, as the Apparition
affirm'd, but the Friends of the Deceased Beacon, Seized
him; and Prosecuting him at Law, he found the help of
such Friends as brought him off without the loss of his
Life ; since which, there has no more been heard of the
Business.

This History I received of Mr. Joseph Beacon himself;
who a little before his own Pious and hopeful Death, which
followed not long after, gave me the Story written and
signed with his own Hand, and attested with the Circum-
stances I have already mentioned.

BUT I shall no longer detain my Reader, from his
expected Entertainment, in a brief account of the
Tryals which have passed upon some of the Malefactors
lately Executed at Salem, for the Witchcrafts whereof they
stood Convicted. For my own part, I was not present at
any of them ; nor ever had I any Personal prejudice at the
Persons thus brought upon the Stage ; much less at the
Surviving Relations of those Persons, with and for whom

110 THE WONDERS OF

I would be as hearty a Mourner as any Man living in the
World: The Lord Comfort them! But having received a
Command so to do, I can do no other than shortly relate
the chief Matters of Fact, which occurr'd in the Tryals of
some that were Executed, in an Abridgment Collected out
of the Court-Papers on this occasion put into my hands.
You are to take the Truth, just as it was; and the Truth
will hurt no good Man. There might have been more of
these, if my Book would not thereby have swollen too big ;
and if some other worthy hands did not perhaps intend
something further in these Collections ; for which cause
I have only singled out Four or Five, which may serve to
illustrate the way of Dealing, wherein Witchcrafts use to
be concerned ; and I report matters not as an Advocate,
but as an Historian.

They were some of the Gracious Words inserted in the
Advice, which many of the Neighbouring Ministers, did
this Summer humbly lay before our Honorable Judges,
We cannot but ivith all thankfulness, acknowledge the
success which the Merciful God has- given unto the Sedulous
and Assiduous endeavours of Our Honourable Rulers, to
detect the abominable Witchcrafts which have been com-
mitted in the Country ; Humbly Praying, that the discovery
of those mysterious and mischievous wickednesses, may be
Perfected. If in the midst of the many Dissatisfactions
among us, the Publication of these Tryals, may promote
such a Pious Thankfulness unto God, for Justice being so
far executed among us, I shall Rejoice that God is Glori-
fied, and pray, that no wrong steps of ours may ever sully
any of his Glorious Works. But we will begin with,

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. Ill

A MODERN INSTANCE OF WITCHES,

DISCOVERED AND CONDEMNED IN A TRYAL,
BEFORE THAT CELEBRATED JUDGE,
SIR MATTHEW HALE.

IT may cast some Light upon the Dark things now in
America, if we just give a glance upon the like things
lately happening in Europe. We may see the Witchcrafts
here most exactly resemble the Witchcrafts there ; and we
may learn what sort of Devils do trouble the World.

The Venerable Baxter very truly says, Judge Hale ivas
a Person, t/ian whom, no Man was more Backward to
Condemn a Witch, without full Evidence.

Now, one of the latest Printed Accounts about a Tryal
of WiteJies, is of what was before him, and it ran on this
wise. [Printed in the Year 1682.] And it is here the
rather mentioned, because it was a Tryal, much considered
by the Judges of New-England.

I. Rose Cullender and Amy Duny, were severally In-
dicted, for Bewitching Elizabeth Durent, Ann Durent, Jane
Bocking, Susan Chandler, William Durent, Elizabeth and
Deborah Pacy. And the Evidence Avhereou they were
Convicted, stood upon divers particular Circumstances.

//. Ann Durent, Susan Chandler, and Elizabeth Pacy,
when they came into the Hall, to give Instructions for the
drawing the Bills of Indictments, they fell into strange and
violent Fits, so that they were unable to give in their

112 THE WONDERS OF

Depositions, not only then, but also during the whole
Assizes. William Durent being an Infant, his Mother
Swore, That Amy Duny looking after her Child one Day
in her absence, did at her return confess, that she had given
suck to the Child: (tho' she were an Old Woman :)
Whereat, when Durent expressed her displeasure, Duny
went away with Discontents and Menaces.

The Night after, the Child fell into strange and sad Fits,
wherein it continued for Divers Weeks. One Doctor
Jacob advised her to hang up the Childs Blanket, in the
Chimney Corner all Day, and at Night, when she went to
put the Child into it, if she found any Thing in it then to
throw it without fear into the Fire. Accordingly, at Night,
there fell a great Toad out of the Blanket, which ran up
and down the Hearth. A Boy catch't it, and held it in the
Fire with the Tongs : where it made an horrible Noise,
and Flash'd like to Gun-Powder, with a report like that of
a Pistol : Whereupon the Toad was no more to be seen.
The next Day a Kinswoman of Duny's told the Deponent,
that her Aunt was all grievously scorch'd with the Fire,
and the Deponent going to her House, found her in such
a Condition. Duny told her, she might thank her for it ;
but she should live to see some of her Children Dead, and
her self upon Crutches. But after the Burning of the Toad,
this Child Recovered.

This Deponent further Testifi'd, That Her Daughter
Elizabeth, being about the Age of Ten Years, was taken
in like manner, as her first Child was, and in her Fits
complained much of Amy Duny, and said, that she did
appear to Her, and afflict her in such manner as the former.

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 113

One Day she found Amy Duny in her House, and thrust-
ing her out of Doors, Duny said, You need not be so Angry,
your Child won't live long. And within three Days the
Child Died. The Deponent added, that she was Her self,
not long after taken with such a Lameness, in both her
Legs, that she was forced to go upon Crutches; and she
was now in Court upon them. [It was Remarkable, that
immediately upon the Juries bringing in Duny Guilty,
Durent was restored unto the use of her Limbs, and went
home without her Crutches.]

///. As for Elizabeth and Deborah Pacy, one Aged
Eleven Years, the other Nine; the elder, being in Court,
was made utterly senseless, during all the time of the Trial :
or at least speechless. By the direction of the Judg, Duny
was privately brought to Elizabeth Pacy, and she touched
her Hand: whereupon the Child, without so much as
seeing her, suddenly leap'd up and flew upon the Prisoner;
the younger was too ill, to be brought unto the Assizes.
But Samuel Pacy, their Father, testified, that his Daughter
Deborah was taken with a sudden Lameness; and upon
the grumbling of Amy Duny, for being denied something,
where this Child was then sitting, the Child was taken with
an extream pain in her stomach, like the pricking of Pins ;
and shrieking at a dreadful manner, like a Whelp, rather
than a Rational Creature. The Physicians could not con-
jecture the cause of the Distemper ; but A my Duny being
a Woman of ill Fame, and the Child in Fits crying out
of Amy Duny, as affrighting her with the Apparition of
her Person, the Deponent suspected her, and procured her
to be set in the stocks. While she was there, she said in
I

114 THE WONDERS OF

the hearing of Two Witnesses, Mr. Pacy keeps a great
stir about his Child, but let him stay till he has done as
much by his Children, as I have done by mine : And
being Asked, What she had done to her Children, she
Answered, She had been fain to open her Childs Mouth
with a Tap to give it Victuals. The Deponent added, that
within Two Days, the Fits of his Daughters were such,
that they could not preserve either Life or Breath, without
the help of a Tap. And that the Children Cry'd out of
Amy Duny, and of Rose Cullender, as afflicting them with
their Apparitions.

IV. The Fits of the Children were various. They
would sometimes be Lame on one side; sometimes on
t'other. Sometimes very sore; sometimes restored unto
their Limbs, and then Deaf, or Blind, or Dumb, for a long
while together. Upon the Eecovery of their Speech, they
would Cough extreamly ; and with much Flegm, they would
bring up Crooked Pins; and one time, a Two-penny Nail,
with a very broad Head. Commonly at the end of every
Fit, they would cast up a Pin. When the Children Read,
they could not pronounce the name of Lord, or Jesus, or
Christ, but would fall into Fits; and say, Amy Duny says,
I must not use that Name. When they came to the Name
of Satan, or Devil, they would clap their Fingers on the
Book, crying out, This bites, but it makes me speak right
well ! The Children in their Fits would often Cry out,
There stands Amy Duny, or Rose Cullender ; and they
would afterwards relate, That these Witches appearing
before them, threatned them, that if they told what they
saw or heard, they would Torment them ten times more
than ever they did before.

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 115

F. Margaret Arnold, the sister of Mr. Pacy, Testifi'd
unto the like Sufferings being upon the Children, at her
House, whither her Brother had Removed them. And
that sometimes, the Children (only) would see things like
Mice, run about the House; and one of them suddenly
snap'd one with the Tongs, and threw it into the Fire,
where it screeched out like a Eat. At another time, a
thing like a Bee, flew at the Face of the younger Child;
the Child fell into a Fit ; and at last Vomited up a Two-
penny Nail, with a Broad Head ; affirming, That the Bee
brought this Nail, and forced it into her Mouth. The
Child would in like manner be assaulted with Flies, which
brought Crooked Pins unto her, and made her first swallow
them, and then Vomit them. She one Day caught an In-
visible Mouse, and throwing it into the Fire, it Flash 'd like
to Gun-Powder. None besides the Child saw the Mouse,
but every one saw the Flash. She also declared, out of
her Fits, that in them, A my Duny much tempted her to
destroy her self.

VI. As for Ann Durent, her Father Testified, That
upon a Discontent of Rose Cullender, his Daughter was
taken with much Illness in her Stomach and great and sore
Pains, like the Pricking of Pins : and then Swooning Fits,
from which Recovering, she declared, She had seen the
Apparition of Rose Cullender, Threatning to Torment her.
She likewise Vomited up diverse Pins. The Maid was
Present at Court, but when Cullender look'd upon her, she
fell into such Fits, as made her utterly unable to declare
any thing.

Ann Baldivin deposed the same.

116 THE WONDERS OF

VII. Jane flocking, was too weak to be at the Assizes.
But her Mother Testifi'd, that her Daughter having for-
merly been Afflicted with Swooning Fits, and Recovered
of them; was now taken with a great Pain in her Stomach;
and New Swooning Fits. That she took little Food, but
every Day Vomited Crooked Pins. In her first Fits, she
would Extend her Arms, and use Postures, as if she catched
at something, and when her Clutched Hands were forced
open, they would find several Pins diversely Crooked, un-
accountably lodged there. She would also mantain a
Discourse with some that were Invisibly present, when
casting abroad her Arms, she would often say, / ivill not
Jiave it ! but at last say, Then I ivill have it! and closing her
Hand, which when they presently after opened, a Lath-Nail
was found in it. But her great Complaints were of being
Visited by the shapes tfAmyDuny, and Rose Cullender.

VIII. As for Susan Chandler, her Mother Testified,
That being at the search of Rose Cullender, they found on
her Belly a thing like a Teat, of an inch long; which the
said Rose ascribed to a strain. But near her Privy-parts,
they found Three more, that were smaller than the former.
At the end of the long Teat, there was a little Hole, which
appeared, as if newly Sucked; and upon straining it, a
white Milky matter issued out. The Deponent further said,
That her Daughter being one Day concerned at Rose Cul-
lenders taking her by the Hand, she fell very sick, and at
Night cry'd out, That Rose Cullender ivould come to Bed
unto her. Her Fits grew violent, and in the Intervals of
them, she declared, That she saw Rose Cullender in them,
and once having of a great Dog with her. She also

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 117

Vomited up Crooked Pins ; and when she was brought into
Court, she fell into her Fits. She Recovered her self in
some Time, and was asked by the Court, whether she was
in a Condition to take an Oath, and give Evidence. She
said, she could; but having been Sworn, she fell into her
Fits again, and, Burn her! Burn her! were all the words
that she could obtain power to speak. Her Father like-
wise gave the same Testimony with her Mother; as to all
but the Search.

IX. Here was the Sum of the Evidence : Which Mr.
Serjeant Keeling, thought not sufficient to Convict the
Prisoners. For admitting the Children were Bewitched,
yet, said he, it can never be Apply'd unto the Prisoners,
upon the Imagination only of the Parties Afflicted ; inas-
much as no person whatsoever could then be in Safety.

Dr. Brown, a very Learned Person then present, gave
his Opinion, that these Persons were Bewitched. He
added, That in Denmark, there had been lately a great Dis-
covery of Witches ; who used the very same way of Afflicting
people, by Conveying Pins and Nails into them. His
Opinion was, that the Devil in Witchcrafts, did Work upon
the Bodies of Men and Women, upon a Natural Founda-
tion ; and that he did Extraordinarily afflict them, with
such Distempers as their Bodies were most subject unto.

X. The Experiment about the Usefulness, yea, or Law-
fulness whereof Good Men have sometimes disputed, was
divers Times made, That tho' the Afflicted were utterly
deprived of all sense in their Fits, yet upon the Touch of
the Accused, they would so screech out, and fly up, as not
upon any other persons. And yet it was also found that

118 THE WONDERS OF

once upon the touch of an innocent person, the like effect
follow'd which put the whole Court unto a stand : altho'
a small Reason was at length attempted to be given for it.

XI. However, to strengthen the Credit of what had been
already produced against the Prisoners, One John Soam
Testified, That bringing home his Hay in Three Carts, one
of the Carts wrenched the Window of Rose Cullenders
House, whereupon she flew out, with violent Threatenings
against the Deponent. The other Two Carts, passed by
Twice, Loaded, that Day afterwards; but the Cart which
touched Cullenders House, was Twice or Thrice that Day
overturned. Having again Loaded it, as they brought it
thro' the Gate which Leads out of the Field, the Cart
stuck so fast in the Gates Head, that they could not possibly
get it thro', but were forced to cut down the Post of the
Gate, to make the Cart pass thro', altho' they could not
perceive that the Cart did of either side touch the Gate-
Post. They afterwards, did with much Difficulty get it
home to the Yard; but could not for their lives get the
Cart near the place, where they should unload. They were
fain to unload at a great Distance ; and when they were
Tired, the Noses of them that came to Assist them, would
burst forth a Bleeding; so they were fain to give over till
next morning; and then they unloaded without any diffi-
culty.

XIL Robert Sherringham also Testifi'd, That the Axle-
Tree of his Cart, happening in passing, to break some part
of Rose Cullenders House, in her Anger at it, she vehe-
mently threatned him, His Horses should su/er for it.
And within a short time, all his Four Horses dy'd; after

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 119

which he sustained many other Losses in the sudden Dying
of his Cattle. He was also taken with a Lameness in his
Limbs; and so vexed with Lice of an extraordinary Num-
ber and Bigness, that no Art could hinder the Swarming
of them, till he burnt up two Suits of Apparel.

XIII. As for Amy Duny, 'twas TestifTd by one Richard
Spencer that he heard her say, The Devil would not let her
Rest ; until she were Revenged on the Wife of Cornelius
Sandswel. And that Sandswel testified, that her Poultry
dy'd suddenly, upon Amy Dunys threatning of them ; and
that her Husbands Chimney fell, quickly after Duny had
spoken of such a disaster. And a Firkin of Fish could not
be kept from falling into the water, upon suspicious words
of Duny's.

XIV. The Judg told the Jury, they were to inquire
now, first, whether these Children were Bewitched; and
secondly, Whether the Prisoners at the Bar were guilty of
it. He made no doubt, there were such Creatures as
AVitches ; for the Scriptures affirmed it ; and the Wisdom
of all Nations had provided Laws against such persons.
He pray'd the God of Heaven to direct their Hearts in the
weighty thing they had in hand ; for, To Condemn the
Innocent, and let the guilty go free, were both an Abomi-
nation to the Lord.

The Jury in half an hour brought them in Guilty upon
their several Indictments, which were Nineteen in Number.

The next Morning, the Children with their Parents,
came to the Lodgings of the Lord Chief Justice, and were
in as good health as ever in their Lives; being Restored
within half an Hour after the Witches were Convicted.

120 THE WONDERS OF

The Witches were Executed ; and Confessed nothing ;
which indeed will not be wondred by them, who Consider
and Entertain the Judgment of a Judicious Writer, That
the Unpardonable Sin, is most usually Committed by Pro-
fessors of the Christian Religion, falling into Witchcraft,

We will now proceed unto several of the like Tryals
among our selves.

I. /J

THE TRYAL OF G. B; AT A COURT OF

OYER AND "TERMINER,

HELD IN SALEM, 1692.

GLAD should I have been, if I had never known the
Name of this Man : or never had this occasion to
mention so much as the first Letters of his Name. But
the Government requiring some Account of his Trial to be
inserted in this Book, it becomes me with all Obedience to
submit unto the Order.

I. This G. B. Was Indicted for Witch-craft, and in the
prosecution of the Charge against him, he was Accused by
five or six of the Bewitched, as the Author of their Mise-
ries ; he was Accused by Eight of the Confessing Witches,
as being an head Actor at some of their Hellish Ran-
dezvouzes, and one who had the promise of being a King
in Satan's Kingdom, now going to be Erected : He was
accused by Nine Persons for extraordinary Lifting, and
such feats of Strength as could not be done without a

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 121

Diabolical Assistance. And for other such things he was
Accused, until about thirty Testimonies were brought in
against him; nor were these judg'd the half of what might
have been considered for his Conviction : However they
were enough to fix the Character of a Witch upon him
according to the Rules of Reasoning, by the Judicious
Gaule, in that Case directed.

II. The Court being sensible, that the Testimonies of
the Parties Bewitched, use to have a Room among the
Suspicions or Presumptions, brought in against one In-
dicted for Witch-craft; there were now heard the Testi-
monies of several Persons, who were most notoriously
Bewitched, and every day Tortured by Invisible Hands,
and these now all charged the Spectres of G. B. to have
a share in their Torments. At the Examination of this
G. B. the Bewitched People were grievously harrassed
with Preternatural Mischiefs, which could not possibly be
Dissembled; and they still ascribed it unto the endeavours
of G. B. to Kill them. And now upon the Tryal of one
of the Bewitched Persons, testified, that in her Agonies, a
little black Hair'd Man came to her, saying his Name
was B. and bidding her set her hand to a Book which he
shewed unto her ; and bragging that he was a Conjurer,
above the ordinary Rank of Witches ; That he often Per-
secuted her with the offer of that Book, saying, She should
be well, and need fear nobody, if she would but Sign it ;
But he inflicted cruel Pains and Hurts upon her, because
of her denying so to do. The Testimonies of the other
Sufferers concurred with these; and it was remarkable,
that whereas Biting was one of the ways which the Witches

122 THE WONDERS OF

used for the vexing of the Sufferers; when they cry'd out
of G. B. Biting them, the print of the Teeth would be
seen on the Flesh of the Complainers, and just such a Set
of Teeth as G. B's would then appear upon them, which
could be distinguished from those of some other Mens.
Others of them testified, That in their Torments, G. B.
tempted them to go unto a Sacrament, unto which they
perceived him with a Sound of Trumpet, Summoning of
other Witches, who quickly after the Sound, would come
from all Quarters unto the Kendezvouz. One of them
falling into a kind of Trance, affirmed, that G. B. had
carried her away into a very high Mountain, where he
shewed her mighty and glorious Kingdoms, and said, He
would give them all to her, if she would write in his Book;
But she told him, They were none of his to give; and re-
fused the Motions; enduring of much Misery for that
refusal.

It cost the Court a wonderful deal of Trouble, to hear
the Testimonies of the Sufferers; for when they were going
to give in their Depositions, they would for a long time be
taken with Fits, that made them uncapable of saying any
thing. The Chief Judg asked the Prisoner, who he thought
hindered these Witnesses from giving their Testimonies ?
And he answered, He supposed it was the Devil. That
Honourable Person replied, How comes the Devil then to
be so loath to Jiave any Testimony born against you?
Which cast him into very great Confusion.

III. It has been a frequent thing for the Bewitched
People to be entertained with Apparitions of Ghosts of
Murdered People, at the same time that the Spectres of

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 123

the Witches trouble them. These Ghosts do always
affright the Beholders more than all the other spectral
Kepresentations; and when they exhibit themselves, they
cry out, of being Murthered by the Witch-crafts or other
Violences of the Persons who are then in Spectre present.
It is further considered, that once or twice, these Appari-
tions have been seen by others, at the very same time they
have shewn themselves to the Bewitched ; and seldom have
there been these Apparitions, but when something unusual
or suspected, have attended the Death of the Party thus
Appearing. Some that have been accused by these Appa-
ritions accosting of the Bewitched People, who had never
heard a word of any such Persons ever being in the World,
have upon a fair Examination, freely and fully confessed
the Murthers of those very Persons, altho' these also did
not know how the Apparitions had complained of them.
Accordingly several of the Bewitched, had given in their
Testimony, that they had been troubled with the Appari-
tions of two Women, who said, that they were G. JB's two
Wives, and that he had been the Death of them ; and that
the Magistrates must be told of it, before whom if B. upon
his Tryal denied it, they did not know but that they should
appear again in Court. Now, G. B. had been Infamous for
the Barbarous usage of his two late Wives, all the Country
over. Moreover, it was testified, the Spectre of G. B.
threatning of the Sufferers, told them, he had Killed (be-
sides others) Mrs. Lawson and her Daughter Ann. And
it was noted, that these were the Vertuous Wife and
Daughter of one at whom this G. B. might have a preju-
dice for his being serviceable at Salem Village, from whence

124 THE WONDERS OF

himself had in ill Terms removed some Years before : And
that when they dy'd, which was long since, there were
some odd Circumstances about them, which made some of
the Attendents there suspect something of Witch-craft,
tho none Imagined from what Quarter it should come.

Well, 6r. B. being now upon his Tryal, one of the Be-
witched Persons was cast into Horror at the Ghost of IPs
two Deceased Wives then appearing before him, and crying
for Vengeance against him. Hereupon several of the
Bewitched Persons were successively called in, who all not
knowing what the former had seen and said, concurred in
their Horror of the Apparition, which they affirmed that
he had before him. But he, tho much appalled, utterly
deuy'd that he discerned any thing of it ; nor was it any
part of his Conviction.

IV. Judicious Writers have assigned it a great place in
the Conviction of Witches, when Persons are Impeached
by other notorious Witches, to be as ill as themselves;
especially, if the Per sons have been much noted for neglecting
the Worship of God. Now, as there might have been
Testimonies enough of G. BJs Antipathy to Prayer, and
the other Ordinances of God, tho by his Profession,
singularly Obliged thereunto; so, there now came in
against the Prisoner, the Testimonies of several Persons,
who confessed their own having been horrible Witches, and
ever since their Confessions, had been themselves terribly
Tortured by the Devils and other Witches, even like the
other Sufferers ; and therein undergone the Pains of many
Deaths for their Confessions.

These now testified, that G. B. had been at Witch-

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 125

meetings with them ; and that he was the Person who had
Seduc'd, and CompelPd them into the snares of Witch-
craft: That he promised them Fine Cloaths, for doing it;
that he brought Poppets to them, and Thorns to stick into
those Poppets, for the Afflicting of other People ; and that
he exhorted them with the rest of the Crew, to Bewitch
all Salem Village, but besure to do it Gradually, if they
would prevail in what they did.

When the Lancashire Witches were Condemn'd, I don't
remember that there was any considerable further Evidence,
than that of the Bewitched, and than that of some that
confessed. We see so much already against G. B. But
this being indeed not enough, there were other things to
render what had been already produced credible.

V. A famous Divine recites this among the Convictions
of a Witch ; The Testimony of the party Bewitched,
whether Pining or Dying ; together with the joint Oaths
of sufficient Persons that have seen certain Prodigious
Pranks or Feats wrought by the Party Accused. Now,
God had been pleased so to leave this G. B. that he had
ensnared himself by several Instances, which he had for-
merly given of a Preternatural Strength, and which were
now produced against him. He was a very Puny Man,
yet he had often done things beyond the strength of a
Giant. A Gun of about seven foot Ban-el, and so heavy
that strong Men could not steadily hold it out with both
hands ; there were several Testimonies, given in by Per-
sons of Credit and Honor, that he made nothing of taking
up such a Gun behind the Lock, with but one hand, and
holdiug it out like a Pistol, at Anns-end. G. B. in his

126 THE WONDERS OF

Vindication, was so foolish as to say, That an Indian was
there, and held it out at the same time : Whereas none of
the Spectators ever saw any such Indian ; but they sup-
posed, the Black Man, (as the Witches call the Devil ; and
they generally say he resembles an Indian) might give
him that Assistance. There was Evidence likewise brought
in, that he made nothing of taking up whole Barrels fill'd
with Molasses or Cider, in very disadvantageous Postures,
and Carrying of them through the difficultest Places out of
a Canoo to the Shore.

Yea, there were two Testimonies, that G. B. with only
putting the Fore Finger of his Right Hand into the Muzzle
of an heavy Gun, a Fowling-piece of about six or seven
foot Barrel, did lift up the Gun, and hold it out at Arms-
end; a Gun which the Deponents thought strong Men
could not with both hands lift up, and hold out at the But-
end, as is usual. Indeed, one of these Witnesses was
over-perswaded by some Persons, to be out of the way upon
G. It's Tryal ; but he came afterwards with Sorrow for his
withdraw, and gave in his Testimony : Nor were either of
these Witnesses made use of as Evidences in the Trial.

VI. There came in several Testimonies relating to the
Domestick Affairs of G. B. which had a very hard Aspect
upon him ; and not only prov'd him a very ill Man ; but
also confirmed the belief of the Character, which had been
already fastned on him.

'Twas testified, that keeping his two Successive Wives
in a strange kind of Slavery, he would when he came home
from abroad, pretend to tell the Talk which any had with
them; That he has brought them to the point of Death,

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 127

by his harsh Dealings with his Wives, and then made the
People about him, to promise that in case Death should
happen, they would say nothing of it; That he used all
means to make his Wives Write, Sign, Seal, and Swear a
Covenant, never to reveal any of his Secrets; That his
Wives had privately complained unto the Neighbours about
frightful Apparitions of Evil Spirits, with which their House
was sometimes infested; and that many such things have
been whispered among the Neighbourhood. There were
also some other Testimonies relating to the Death of
People whereby the Consciences of an Impartial Jury were
convinced that G. B. had Bewitched the Persons mentioned
in the Complaints. But I am forced to omit several pas-
sages, in this, as well as in all the succeeding Tryals,
because the Scribes who took notice of them, have not sup-
plyed me.

VII. One Mr. Ruck, Brother-in-Law to this G. B.
testified, that G. B. and himself, and his Sister, who was
G. B's Wife, going out for two or three Miles to gather
Straw-berries, Ruck with his Sister, the Wife of G. B.
Rode home very Softly, with G. B. on Foot in their Com-
pany, G. B. stept aside a little into the Bushes; where-
upon they halted and Halloo'd for him. He not answering,
they went away homewards, with a quickened pace, without
expectation of seeing him in a considerable while ; and yet
when they were got near home, to their Astonishment,
they found him on foot with them, having a Basket of
Straw-berries. G. B. immediately then fell to Chiding
his Wife, on the account of what she had been speaking to
her Brother, of him, on the Road : which when they

128 THE WONDERS OF

wondred at, he said, He knew their thoughts. Ruck being
startled at that, made some Reply, intimating, that the
Devil himself did not know so far; but G. B. answered,
My God makes known your Thoughts unto me. The
Prisoner now at the Bar had nothing to answer, unto what
was thus witnessed against him, that was worth consider-
ing. Only he said, Ruck, and his Wife left a Man with
him, when they left him. Which Ruck now amrm'd to be
false ; and when the Court asked G. B. What the Man's
Name was? his Countenance was much altered/ nor could
he say, who 'twas. But the Court began to think, that he
then step'd aside, only that by the assistance of the Blark
Man, he might put on his Invisibility, and in that Fasci-
nating Mist, gratifie his own Jealous Humour, to hear
what they said of him. Which trick of rendring them-
selves Invisible, our Witches do in their Confessions pre-
tend, that they sometimes are Masters of; and it is the
more credible, because there is Demonstration, that they
often render many other things utterly Invisible.

VIII. Faltring, faulty, unconstant, and contrary An-
swers upon judicial and deliberate Examination, are
counted some unlucky Syrnptons of Guilt, in all Crimes,
especially in Witchcrafts. Now there never was a Prisoner
more eminent for them, than G. B. both at his Examina-
tion and on his Trial. His Tergiversations, Contradictions,
and Falshoods were very sensible : he had little to say, but
that he had heard some things that he could not prove, Re-
flecting upon the Reputation of some of the Witnesses.
Only he gave in a Paper to the Jury ; wherein, altho' he
had many times before, granted, not only that there are

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 129

Witches, but also, that the present Sufferings of the Country
are the effects of horrible Witchcrafts, yet he now goes to
evince it, That there neither are, nor ever were Witches,
that having made a Compact with the Devil, can send a
Devil to Torment other people at a distance. This Paper
was Transcribed out of Ady ; which the Court presently
knew, as soon as they heard it. But he said, he had taken
none of it out of any Book ; for which, his Evasion after-
wards, was, That a Gentleman gave him the Discourse in
a Manuscript, from whence he Transcribed it.

IX. The Jury brought him in Guilty : But when he
came to Die, he utterly deni'd the Fact, whereof he had
been thus convicted.

II.
THE TRYAL OF BRIDGET BISHOP, ALIAS

OLIVER, AT THE COURT OF OYER AND TERMINER,
HELD AT SALEM, JUNE 2. 1692.

I.

SHE was indicted for Bewitching of several Persons
in the Neighbourhood, the Indictment being drawn
up, according to the Form in such Cases usual. And
pleading, Not Guilty, there were brought in several persons,
who had long undergone many kinds of Miseries, which
were preternaturally inflicted, and generally ascribed unto
an horrible Witchcraft. There was little occasion to prove
the Witchcraft, it being evident and notorious to all be-

130 THE WONDERS OF

holders. Now to fix the Witchcraft on the Prisoner at
the Bar, the first thing used, was the Testimony of the
Bewitched ; whereof several testifi'd, That the Shape of
the Prisoner did oftentimes very grievously Pinch them,
Choak them, Bite them, and Afflict them ; urging them
to write their Names in a Book, which the said Spectre
called, Ours. One of them did further testifie, that it was
the Shape of this Prisoner, with another, which one day
took her from her Wheel, and carrying her to the River-
side, threatned there to Drown her, if she did not Sign to
the Book mentioned : which yet she refused. Others of
them did also testifie, that the said Shape did in her Threats
brag to them that she had been the Death of sundry Per-
sons, then by her named ; that she had Ridden a Man
then likewise named. Another testifi'd, the Apparition of
Ghosts unto the Spectre of Bishop, crying out, You Mur-
dered us ! About the Truth whereof, there was in the
Matter of Fact but too much suspicion.

II. It was testifi'd, That at the Examination of the
Prisoner before the Magistrates, the Bewitched were ex-
treamly tortured. If she did but cast her Eyes on them,
they were presently struck down ; and this in such a manner
as there could be no Collusion in the Business. But upon
the Touch of her Hand upon them, when they lay in their
Swoons, they would immediately Revive ; and not upon
the Touch of any ones else. Moreover, Upon some Special
Actions of her Body, as the shaking of her Head, or the
turning of her Eyes, they presently and painfully fell into
the like postures. And many of the like Accidents now
fell out, while she was at the Bar. One at the same time

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 131

testifying, That she said, She could not be troubled to see
the afflicted thus tormented.

III. There was Testimony likewise brought in, that a
Man striking once at the place, where a bewitched person
said, the Shape of this Bishop stood, the bewitched cried
out, That he had tore her Coat, ill the place then particu-
larly specified; and the "Woman's Coat was found to be
Torn in that very place.

IV. One Deliverance Hobbs, who had confessed her being
a Witch, was now tormented by the Spectres, for her
Confession. And she now testifi'd, That this Bishop
tempted her to Sign the Book again, and to deny what she
had confessed. She affirm'd, That it was the Shape of this
Prisoner, which whipped her with Iron Rods, to compel
her thereunto. And she affirmed, that this Bishop was at
a General Meeting of the Witches, in a Field at Salem-
Village, and there partook of a Diabolical Sacrament in
Bread and Wine then administred.

V. To render it further unquestionable, that the Prisoner
at the Bar, was the Person truly charged in THIS Witch-
craft, there were produced many Evidences of OTHER
Witchcrafts, by her perpetrated. For Instance, John

' Cook testifi'd, That about five or six Years ago, one Morn-
ing, about Sun-Rise, he was in his Chamber assaulted by
the Shape of this Prisoner : which look'd on him, grinn'd
at him, and very much hurt him with a Blow on the side
of the Head : and that on the same day, about Noon, the
same Shape walked in the Room where he was, and an
Apple strangely flew out of his Hand, into the Lap of his
Mother, six or eight Foot from him.

132 THE WONDERS OF

VI. Samuel Gray testifi'd, That about fourteen Years
ago, he wak'd on a Night, and saw the Room where he
lay full of Light ; and that he then saw plainly a Woman
between the Cradle, and the Bed-side, which look'd upon
him. He rose, and it vanished ; tho' he found the Doors
all fast. Looking out at the Entry-door, he saw the same
Woman, in the same Garb again ; and said, In God's
Name, ivhat do you come for ? He went to Bed, and had
the same Woman again assaulting him. The Child in the
Cradle gave a great Screech, and the Woman disappeared.
It was long before the Child could be quieted ; and tho' it
were a very likely thriving Child, yet from this time it
pined away, and, after divers Months, died in a sad Con-
dition. He knew not Bishop, nor her, Name ; but when
he saw her after this, he knew by her Countenance, and
Apparel, and all Circumstances, that it was the Apparition
of this Bishop, which had thus troubled him.

VII. John Ely and his Wife testifi'd, That he bought
a Sow of Edward Bishop, the Husband of the Prisoner ;
and was to pay the Price agreed, unto another person.
This Prisoner being angry that she was thus hindred from
fingring the Mony, quarrell'd with Ely. Soon after which,
the Sow was taken with strange Fits; Jumping, Leaping,
and Knocking her Head against the Fence ; she seem'd
Blind and Deaf, and would neither Eat nor be Suck'd.
Whereupon a Neighbour said, she believed the Creature
was Over-looked; and sundry other Circumstances con-
curred, which made the Deponents believe that Bishop had
bewitched it.

VIII. Richard Coman testifi'd, That eight Years ago,

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 133

as he lay awake in his Bed, with a Light burning in the
Room, he was annoy'd with the Apparition of this Bishoj),
and of two more that were strangers to him, who came and
oppressed him so, that he could neither stir himself, nor
wake any one else, and that he was the night after, mo-
lested again in the like manner ; the said Bishop taking
him by the Throat, and pulling him almost out of the Bed.
His Kinsman offered for this cause to lodge with him ; and
that Night, as they were awake, discoursing together, this
Coman was once more visited by the Guests which had
formerly been so troublesom ; his Kinsman being at the
same time struck speechless, and unable to move Hand or
Foot. He had laid his Sword by him, which these unhappy
Spectres did strive much to wrest from him ; only he held
too fast for them. He then grew able to call the People
of his House ; but altho' they heard him, yet they had not
power to speak or stir ; until at last, one of the People
crying out, What's the matter? The Spectres all vanished.
IX. Samuel Shattock testify'd, That in the Year, 1680,
this Bridget Bishop, often came to his House upon such
frivolous and foolish Errands, that they suspected she
came indeed with a purpose of mischief. Presently, where-
upon, his eldest Child, which was of as promising Health
and Sense, as any Child of its Age, began to droop ex-
ceedingly ; and the oftner that Bishop came to the House,
the worse grew the Child. As the Child would be stand-
ing at the Door, he would be thrown and bruised against
the Stones, by an invisible Hand, and in like sort knock
his Face against the sides of the House, and bruise it after
a miserable manner. Afterwards this Ei&hop would bring

134 THE WONDERS OF

him things to Dye, whereof he could not imagin any use ;
and when she paid him a piece of Mony, the Purse and
Mony were unaccountably conveyed out of a lock'd Box,
and never seen any more. The Child was immediately,
hereupon, taken with terrible Fits, whereof his Friends
thought he would have dyed : Indeed he did almost nothing
but Cry and Sleep for several Months together ; and at
length his Understanding was utterly taken away. Among
other Symptoms of an Inchantment upon him, one was,
That there was a Board in the Garden, whereon he would
walk ; and all the Invitations in the World could never
fetch him off. About 17 or 18 years after, there came a
Stranger to Shattock's House, who seeing the Child, said,
This poor Child is Bewitched; and you have a Neighbour
living not far off, who is a Witch. He added, Your
Neighbour has had a falling out with your Wife ; and she
said, in her Heart, your Wife is a proud Woman, and
she would bring down her Pride in this Child. He then
remembred, that Bishop had parted from his Wife in
muttering and menacing Terms, a little before the Child
was taken 111. The abovesaid Stranger would needs carry
the bewitched Boy with him, to Bishop's House, on pre-
tence of buying a pot of Cyder. The Woman entertained
him in furious manner; and flew also upon the Boy,
scratching his Face till the Blood came ; and saying, Thou
Rogue, what dost thou bring this Fellow here to plague
me ? Now it seems the Man had said, before he went,
That he would fetch Blood of her. Ever after the Boy
was follow'd with grievous Fits, which the Doctors them-
selves generally ascribed unto Witchcraft; and wherein he

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 135

would be thrown still into the Fire or the Water, if he were
not constantly look'd after; and it was verily believed that
Bishop was the cause of it.

X. John Louder testify'd, That upon some little Con-
troversy with Bishop about her Fowls, going well to Bed,
he did awake in the Night by Moonlight, and did see
clearly the likeness of this Woman grievously oppressing
him ; in which miserable condition she held him, unable to
help himself, till near Day. He told Bishop of this; but
she deny'd it, and threatned him very much. Quickly after
this, being at home on a Lords day, with the doors shut
about him, he saw a black Pig approach him ; at which,
he going to kick, it vanished away. Immediately after,
sitting down, he saw a black Thing jump in at the Window,
and come and stand before him. The Body was like
that of a Monkey, the Feet like a Cocks, but the Face
much like a Mans. He being so extreamly affrighted, that
he could not speak ; this Monster spoke to him, and said,
/ am a Messenger sent unto you, for I understand that
you are in some Trouble of Mind, and if you will be ruled
by me, you shall want for nothing in this World. Where-
upon he endeavoured to clap his Hands upon it; but he
could feel no substance; and it jumped out of the Window
again ; but immediately came in by the Porch, tho' the
Doors were shut, and said, You had better take my Coun-
sel ! He then struck at it with a Stick, but struck only the
Ground-sel, and broke the Stick : The Ann with which
he struck was presently Disenabled, and it vanished away.
He presently went out at the Back-door, and spied this
Bishop, in her Orchard, going toward her House ; but he

136 THE WONDERS OF

had not power to set one foot forward unto her. Where-
upon, returning into the House, he was immediately
accosted by the Monster he had seen before ; which Goblin
was now going to fly at him ; whereat he cry'd out, The
whole armour of God be between me and you ! So it sprang
back, and flew over the Apple-tree ; shaking many Apples
off the Tree, in its flying over. At its leap, it flung Dirt
with its Feet against the Stomack of the Man ; whereon
he was then struck Dumb, and so continued for three Days
together. Upon the producing of this Testimony, Bishop
deny'd that she knew this Deponent : Yet their two
Orchards joined ; and they had often had their little Quar-
rels for some years together.

XI. William Stacy testify'd, That receiving Mony of
this Bishop, for work done by him ; he was gone but a
matter of three Rods from her, and looking for his Mony,
found it unaccountably gone from him. Some time after,
Bishop asked him, whether his Father would grind her
Grist for her ? He demanded why ? She reply'd, Because
Folks count me a Witch. He answered, No question but
he will grind it for you. Being then gone about six Rods
from her, with a small Load in his Cart, suddenly the Off-
wheel stump'd, and sunk down into an hole, upon plain
Ground ; so that the Deponent was forced to get help for
the recovering of the Wheel : But stepping back to look
for the hole, which might give him this Disaster, there
was none at all to be found. Some time after, he was
waked in the Night ; but it seem'd as light as day ; and
he perfectly saw the shape of this Bishop in the Room,
troubling of him ; but upon her going out, all was dark

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 137

again. He charg'd Bishop afterwards with it, and she
deny'd it not ; but was very angry. Quickly after, this
Deponent having been threatned by Bishop, as he was in
a dark Night going to the Barn, he was very suddenly
taken or lifted from the Ground, and thrown against a
Stone-wall : After that, he was again hoisted up and thrown
down a Bank, at the end of his House. After this again,
passing by this Bishop, his Horse with a small Load,
striving to draw, all his Gears flew to pieces, and the Cart
fell down ; and this Deponent going then to lift a Bag of
Corn, of about two Bushels, could not budge it with all his
Might.

Many other Pranks of this Bishop's this Deponent was
ready to testify. He also testify'd, That he verily believ'd,
the said Bishop was the Instrument of his Daughter
Priscilla's Death ; of which suspicion, pregnant Reasons
were assigned.

XII. To crown all, John Bly and William Ely testify'd,
That being employ'd by Bridget Bishop, to help to take
down the Cellar-wall of the old house wherein she formerly
lived, they did in holes of the said old Wall, find several
Poppets, made up of Rags and Hogs-bristles, with head-
less Pins in them, the Points being outward ; whereof she
could give no account unto the Court, that was reasonable
or tolerable.

XIII. One thing that made against the Prisoner was,
her being evidently convicted of yross Lying in the Court,
several times, while she was making her plea ; but besides
this, a Jury of Women found a preternatural Teat upon
her Body : But upon a second search, within 3 or 4 hours,

138 THE WONDERS OF

there was no such, thing to be seen. There was also an
Account of other People whom this Woman had Afflicted;
and there might have been many more, if they had been
enquired for ; but there was no need of them.

XIV. There was one very strange thing more, with
which the Court was newly entertained. As this Woman
was under a Guard, passing by the great and spacious
Meeting-house of Salem, she gave a look towards the
House : And immediately a Dcemon invisibly entring the
Meeting-house, tore down a part of it ; so that tho' there
was no Person to be seen there, yet the People, at the
noise, running in, found a Board, which was strongly fastned
with several Nails, transported unto another quarter of the
House.

II.
THE TRYAL OF SUSANNA MARTIN, AT THE

COURT OF OYER AND TERMINER, HELD BY ADJOURN-
MENT AT SALEM, JUNE 29. 1692.

I.

SUSANNA MARTIN, pleading Not Guilty to the In-
dictment of Witchcraft, brought in against her, there
were produced the Evidences of many Persons very sensibly
and grievously Bewitched ; who all complained of the Prisoner
at the Bar, as the Person whom they believed the cause of
their Miseries. And now, as well as in the other Trials,
there was an extraordinary Endeavour by Witchcrafts, with

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 139

Cruel and frequent Fits, to hinder the poor Sufferers from
giving in their Complaints, which the Court was forced
with much Patience to obtain, by much waiting and watch-
ing for it.

II. There was now also an account given of what passed
at her first Examination before the Magistrates. The Cast
of her Eye, then striking the afflicted People to the Ground,
whether they saw that Cast or no ; there were these among
other Passages between the Magistrates and the Examinate.

Magistrate. Pray, what ails these People 1

Martin. I don't know.

Magistrate. But what do you think ails them 1

Martin. I don't desire to spend my Judgment upon it.

Magistrate. Don't you think they are bewitch'd 1

Martin. No, I do not think they are.

Magistrate. Tell us your Thoughts about them then.

Martin. No, my thoughts are my own, when they are
in, but when they are out they are anothers. Their
Master—

Magistrate. Their Master ? who do you think is their
Master 1

Martin. If they be dealing in the Black Art, you may
know as well as I.

Magistrate. Well, what have you done towards this ?

Martin. Nothing at all.

Magistrate. Why, 'tis you or your Appearance.

Martin. I cannot help it.

Magistrate. Is it not your Master 1 How comes your
Appearance to hurt these ?

Martin. How do I know ? He that appeared in the

HO THE WONDERS OF

Shape of Samuel, a glorified Saint, may appear in any ones
Shape.

It was then also noted in her, as in others like her, that
if the Afflicted went to approach her, they were flung down
to the Ground. And, when she was asked the reason of
it, she said, / cannot tell ; it may be, the Devil bears me
more Malice than another.

III. The Court accounted themselves, alarum'd by these
Things, to enquire further into the Conversation of the
Prisoner ; and see what there might occur, to render these
Accusations .further credible. Whereupon, John Allen of
Salisbury, testify'd, That he refusing, because of the weak-
ness of his Oxen, to Cart some Staves at the request of this
Martin, she was displeased at it ; and said, It had been as
good that he had ; for his Oxen should never do him much
more Service. Whereupon, this Deponent said, Dost thou
threaten me, thou old Witch ? I'l throw thee into the
Brook: Which to avoid, she flew over the Bridge, and
escaped. But, as he was going home, one of his Oxen
tired, so that he was forced to Unyoke him, that he might
get him home. He then put his Oxen, with many more,
upon Salisbury Beach, where Cattle did use to get Flesh.
In a few days, all the Oxen upon the Beach were found by
their Tracks, to have run unto the Mouth of Merrimack-
River, and not returned ; but the next day they were found
come ashore upon Plum-Island. They that sought them,
used all imaginable gentleness, but they would still run
away with a violence, that seemed wholly Diabolical, till
they came near the mouth of Merrimack-River ; when
they ran right into the Sea, swimming as far as they could

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. HI

be seen. One of them then swam back again, with a
swiftness, amazing to the Beholders, who stood ready to
receive him, and help up his tired Carcass : But the Beast
ran furiously up into the Island, and from thence, thorough
the Marshes, up into Newbury Town, and so up into the
Woods ; and there after a while found near Amesbury.
So that, of fourteen good Oxen, there was only this saved :
The rest were all cast up, some in one place, and some in
another, Drowned.

IV. John Atkinson testifi'd, That he exchanged a Cow
with a Son of Susanna Martin's, whereat she muttered,
and was unwilling he should have it. Going to receive
this Cow, tho he Hamstring'd her, and Halter'd her, she,
of a Tame Creature, grew so mad, that they could scarce
get her along. She broke all the Ropes that were fastned
unto her, and though she were ty'd fast unto a Tree, yet
she made her escape, and gave them such further trouble,
as they could ascribe to no cause but Witchcraft.

V. Bernard Peache testifi'd, That being in Bed, on the
Lord's-day Night, he heard a scrabbling at the Window,
whereat he then saw Susanna Martin come in, and jump
down upon the Floor. She took hold of this Deponent's
Feet, and drawing his Body up into an Heap, she lay upon
him near Two Hours ; in all which time he could neither
speak nor stir. At length, when he could begin to move,
he laid hold on her Hand, and pulling it up to his Mouth,
he bit three of her Fingers, as he judged, unto the Bone.
Whereupon she went from the Chamber, down the Stairs,
out at the Door. This Deponent thereupon called unto
the People of the House, to advise them of what passed ;

142 THE WONDERS OF

and he himself did follow her. The People saw her not ;
but there being a Bucket at the Left-hand of the Door,
tjiere was a drop of Blood found upon it ; and several more
drops of Blood upon the Snow newly fallen abroad : There
was likewise the print of her 2 Feet just without the Thresh-
old ; but no more sign of any Footing further off.

At another time this Deponent was desired by the
Prisoner, to come unto an Husking of Corn, at her House ;
and she said, If he did not come, it were better that he did!
He went not ; but the Night following, Susanna Martin,
as he judged, and another came towards him. One of
them said, Here he is ! but he having a Quarter-staff, made
a Blow at them. The Roof of the Barn, broke his Blow;
but following them to the Window, he made another Blow
at them, and struck them down ; yet they got up, and got
out, and he saw no more of them.

About this time, there was a Rumour about the Town,
that Martin had a Broken Head ; but the Deponent could
say nothing to that.

The said Peache also testified the Bewitching the Cattle
to Death, upon Martin's Discontents.

VI. Robert Downer testified, That this Prisoner being
some Years ago prosecuted at Court for a Witch, he then
said unto her, He believed she was a Witch. Whereat she
being dissatisfied, said, That some She-Devil would shortly
fetch him away I Which words were heard by others, as
well as himself. The Night following, as he lay in his
Bed, there came in at the Window, the likeness of a Cat,
which flew upon him, took fast hold of his Throat, lay on
him a considerable while, and almost killed him. At

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 143

length he remembred what Susanna Martin had threatned
the Day before ; and with much striving he cried out,
Avoid, thou She-Devil! In the Name of God the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Ghost, Avoid I Whereupon it left
him, leap'd on the Floor, and flew out at the Window.

And there also came in several Testimonies, that before
ever Downer spoke a word of this Accident, Susanna
Martin and her Family had related, Now this Downer had
been handled /

VII. John Kembal testified, that Susanna Martin, upon
a Causeless Disgust, had threatned him, about a certain
Cow of his, That she should never do him any more Good:
and it came to pass accordingly. For soon after the Cow
was found stark dead on the dry Ground, without any
Distemper to be discerned upon her. Upon which he was
followed with a strange Death upon more of his Cattle,
whereof he lost in one Spring to the value of Thirty Pounds.
But the said John Kembal had a further Testimony to give
in against the Prisoner which was truly admirable.

Being desirous to furnish himself with a Dog, he applied
himself to buy one of this Martin, who had a Bitch with
Whelps in her House. But she not letting him have his
choice, he said, he would supply himself then at one.JJlezdels.
Having mark'd a Puppy, which he lik'd at Blezdels, he
met George Martin, the Husband of the Prisoner, going
by, who asked him, Whether he would not have one of his
Wife's Puppies ? and he answered, No. The same Day,
one Edmond Elliot,l>emg at Martin's House, heard George
Martin relate, where this Kevibal had been, and what he
had said. Whereupon /Susanna Martin replied, If I live,

144 THE WONDERS OF

ril give him Puppies enough! Within a few days after,
this Kembal, coming out of the Woods, there, arose a little
Black Cloud in the N. W. and Kembal immediately felt a
force upon him, which made him not able to avoid running
upon the stumps of Trees, that were before him, albeit he
had a broad, plain Cart- way, before him ; but tho' he had
his Ax also on his Shoulder to endanger him in his Falls,
he could not forbear going out of his way to tumble over
them. When he came below the Meeting House, there
appeared unto him, a little thing like a Puppy, of a Darkish
Colour; and it shot backwards and forwards between his
Legs. He had the Courage to use all possible Endeavours
of Cutting it with his Ax ; but he could not Hit it : the
Puppy gave a jump from him, and went, as to him it seem'd,
into the Ground. Going a little further, there appeared
unto him a Black Puppy, somewhat bigger than the first,
but as Black as a Cole. Its Motions were quicker than
those of his Ax ; it flew at his Belly, and away ; then at
his Throat ; so, over his Shoulder one way, and then over
his Shoulder another way. His Heart now began to fail
him, and he thought the Dog would have tore his Throat
out. But he recovered himself, and called upon God in
his Distress ; and naming the Name of JESUS CHRIST, it
vanished away at once. The Deponent spoke not one
Word of these Accidents, for fear of affrighting his Wife.
But the next Morning, Edmond Eliot, going into Martin's
House, this Woman asked him where Kembal was ? He
replied, At home, a Bed, for ought he knew. She returned,
They say, he was frighted last Night. Eliot asked, With
what ? She answered, With Puppies. Eliot asked, Where

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 145

she heard of it, for he had heard nothing of it ? She re-
joined, About the Town. Altho' Kembal had mentioned
the Matter to no Creature living.

VIII. William Brown testified, That Heaven having
blessed him with a most Pious and Prudent Wife, this
Wife of his, one day met with Susanna Martin; but when
she approach'd just unto her, Martin vanished out of sight,
and left her extreamly affrighted. After which time, the
said Martin often appear'd unto her, giving her no little
trouble; and when she did come, she was visited with Birds,
that sorely peck'd and prick'd her ; and sometimes, a
Bunch, like a Pullet's Egg, would rise in her Throat, ready
to clioak her, till she cry'd out, Witch, you shan't choak
met While this good Woman was in this extremity, the
Church appointed a Day of Prayer, on her behalf; where-
upon her Trouble ceas'd ; she saw not Martin as formerly ;
and the Church, instead of their Fast, gave Thanks for her
Deliverance. But a considerable while after, she being
Summoned to give in some Evidence at the Court, against
this Martin, quickly thereupon, this Martin came behind
her, while she was milking her Cow, and said unto her,
For thy defaming her at Court, I'll make thee the miser-
ablest Creature in the World. Soon after which, she fell
into a strange kind of distemper, and became horribly
frantick, and uncapable of any reasonable Action ; the
Physicians declaring, that her Distemper was preternatural,
and that some Devil had certainly bewitched her ; and in
that condition she now remained.

IX. Sarah Atkinson testify'd, That Susanna Martin
came from Amesbury to their House at Newbury, in an

L

146 THE WONDERS OF

extraordinary Season, when it was not fit for any to Travel.
She came (as she said, unto Atkinson) all that long way on
Foot. She brag'd and shew'd how dry she was ; nor could
it be perceived that so much as the Soles of her Shoes were
wet. A tkinson was amazed at it ; and professed, that she
should her self have been wet up to the knees, if she had
then came so far ; but Martin reply'd, She scorn' d to be
Drabbled! It was noted, that this Testimony upon her
Trial, cast her in a very singular Confusion.

X. John Pressy testify'd, That being one Evening very
unaccountably Bewildred, near a Field of Martins, and
several times, as one under an Enchantment, returning to
the place he had left, at length he saw a marvellous Light,
about the bigness of an Half-bushel, near two Rod, out of
the way. He went, and struck at it with a Stick, and laid
it on with all his might. He gave it near forty blows ; and
felt it a palpable substance. But going from it, his Heels
were struck up, and he was laid with his Back on the
Ground, sliding, as he thought, into a Pit ; from whence
he recover'd by taking hold on the Bush ; altho' afterwards
he could find no such Pit in the place. Having, after his
Recovery, gone five or six Rod, he saw Susanna Martin
standing on his Left-hand, as the Light had done before ;
but they changed no words with one another. He could
scarce find his House in his Return ; but at length he got
home extreamly affrighted. The next day, it was upon
Enquiry understood, that Martin was in a miserable con-
dition by pains and hurts that were upon her.

It was further testify'd by this Deponent, That after he
had given in some Evidence against Susanna Martin,

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 147

mauy years ago, she gave him foul words about it; and
said, He should never prosper more; particularly, That he
should never have more than two Cows ; that thoy he was
never so likely to have more, yet he should never have them.
And that from that very day to this, namely for twenty
years together, he could never exceed that number ; but
some strange thing or other still prevented his having any
more.

XI. Jervis Ring testify 'd, That about seven years ago, he
was oftentimes and grievously oppressed in the Night, but
saw not who troubled him ; until at last he Lying perfectly
Awake, plainly saw Susanna Martin approach him. She
came to him, and forceably bit him by the Finger ; so that
the Print of the bite is now, so long after, to be seen upon
him.

XII. But besides all of these Evidences, there was a
most wonderful Account of one Joseph Ring, produced on
this occasion.

This Man has been strangely carried about by Daemons,
from one Witch-meeting to another, for near two years
together; and for one quarter of this time, they have
made him, and keep him Dumb, tho'he is now again able
to speak. There was one T. H. who having, as 'tis judged,
a design of engaging this Joseph Ring in a snare of
Devillism, contrived a while, to bring this Ring two Shil-
lings in Debt unto him.

Afterwards, this poor Man would be visited \vith unknown
shapes, and this T. H. sometimes among them ; which
would force him away with them, unto unknown Places,
where he saw Meetings, Feastings, Dancings ; and after

148 THE WONDERS OF

his return, wherein they hurried him along through the
Air, he gave Demonstrations to the Neighbours, that he
had indeed been so transported. When he was brought
until these hellish Meetings, one of the first Things they
still did unto him, was to give him a knock on the Back,
whereupon he was ever as if bound with Chains, uncapable
of stirring out of the place, till they should release him.
He related, that there often came to him a Man, who pre-
sented him a Book, whereto he would have him set his
Hand ; promising to him, that he should then have even
what he would ; and presenting him with all the delectable
Things, Persons, and Places, that he could imagin. But
he refusing to subscribe, the business would end with
dreadful Shapes, Noises and Screeches, which almost scared
him out of his Wits. Once with the Book, there was a
Pen offered him, and an Ink-horn with Liquor in it, that
seemed like Blood : But he never toucht it.

This Man did now affirm, That he saw the Prisoner at
several of those hellish Randezvouzes.

Note, this Woman was one of the most impudent, scurri-
lous, wicked Creatures in the World; and she did now
throughout her whole Tryal, discover her self to be such an
one. Yet when she was asked, what she had to say for
her self? Her chief Plea was, Ttiat she had lead a most
virtuom and holy Life.

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 149

IV.
THE TRYAL OF ELIZABETH HOW, AT THE

COURT OF OYER AND TERMINER, HELD BY AD-
JOURNMENT AT SALEM, JUNE 30. 1692.

I.

T? LIZABETH HO W pleading Not Guilty to the In-
-C-/ dictment of Witchcrafts, then charged upon her;
the Court, according to the usual Proceedings of the Courts
in England, in such Cases, began with hearing the Depo-
sitions of several afflicted People, who were grievously
tortured by sensible and evident Witchcrafts, and all com-
plained of the Prisoner, as the cause of their Trouble. It
was also found that the Sufferers were not able to bear her
Look, as likewise, that in their greatest Swoons, they dis-
tinguished her Touch from other Peoples, being thereby
raised out of them.

And there was other Testimony of People to whom the
shape of this How, gave trouble nine or ten years ago.

II. It has been a most usual thing for the bewitched
Persons, at the same time that the Spectres representing
the Witches, troubled them, to be visited with Apparitions
of Ghosts, pretending to have been Murdered by the Witches
then represented. And sometimes the Confessions of the
Witches afterwards acknowledged those very Murders, which
these Apparitions charged upon them ; altho' they had never
heard what Informations had been given by the Sufferers.

150 THE WONDERS OF

There were such Apparitions of Ghosts testified by some
of the present Sufferers; 'and the Ghosts affirmed, that this
How had murdered them : Which things were fear'd but
not proved.

III. This How had made some Attempts of joyning to
the Church at Ipswich, several years ago; but she was
denyed an admission into that Holy Society, partly through
a suspicion of Witchcraft, then urged against her. And
there now came in Testimony, of preternatural Mischiefs,
presently befalling some that had been Instrumental to
debar her from the Communion whereupon she was in-
truding.

IV. There was a particular Deposition of Joseph Staf-
ford, That his Wife had conceived an extream Aversion to
this How, on the Reports of her Witchcrafts : But How
one day, taking her by the Hand, and saying, / believe
you are not ignorant of the great Scandal that I lye under,
by an evil Report raised upon me. She immediately,
unreasonably and unperswadeably, even like one Enchanted,
began to take this Woman's part. How being soon after
propounded, as desiring an Admission to the Table of the
Lord, some of the pious Brethren were unsatisfy'd about
her. The Elders appointed a Meeting to hear Matters
objected against her; and no Arguments in .the World
could hinder this Goodwife Stafford from going to the
Lecture. She did indeed promise, with much ado, that
she would not go to the Church-meeting, yet she could not
refrain going thither also. How's Affairs there were so
canvased, that she came off rather Guilty than Cleared;
nevertheless Goodwife Stafford could not forbear taking

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 151

her by the Hand, and saying, Tho' you are Condemned
before Men, you are Justified before God. She was quickly
taken in a very strange manner, Ranting, Raving, Raging,
and crying out, Goody How must come into the Church;
she is a precious Saint ; and tho' she be condemned before
Men, she is Justify'd before God. So she continued for
the space of two or three Hours; and then fell into a Trance.
But coming to her self, she cry'd out, Ha ! I was mistaken;
and afterwards again repeated, Ha ! I was mistaken !
Being asked by a stauder by, Wherein ? she replyed, /
thought Goody How had been a precious Saint of God, but
now I see she is a Witch: She has beivitched me, and my
Child, and we shall never be well, till there be a Testimony
for her, that she may be taken into the Church. And
How said afterwards, that she was very sorry to see Staf-
ford at the Church-meeting mentioned. Sta/ord, after
this, declared herself to be afflicted by the Shape of How;
and from that Shape she endured many Miseries.

V. John How, Brother to the Husband of the Prisoner,
testified, that he refusing to accompany the Prisoner unto
her Examination, as was by her desired, immediately some
of his Cattle were Bewitched to Death, leaping three or
four foot high, turning about, speaking, falling, and dying
at once ; and going to cut of an Ear, for an use, that
might as well perhaps have been omitted, the Hand wherein
he held his Knife was taken very numb, and so it remained,
and full of Pain, for several Days, being not well at this
very Time. And he suspected the Prisoner for the Author
of it.

VI. Nehemiah Abbot testify 'd, that unusual and mis-

152 THE WONDERS OF

ehievous Accidents would befal his Cattle, whenever he had
any Difference with this Prisoner. Once, particularly, she
wished his Ox choaked; and within a little while that Ox
was choaked with a Turnep in his Throat. At another
Time, refusing to lend his Horse, at the Request of her
Daughter, the Horse was in a preternatural manner abused.
And several other odd things of that kind were testified

VII. There came in Testimony, that one Good-wife
Sherwin, upon some Difference with How, was bewitched ;
and that she dyed, charging this How with having an Hand
in her Death. And that other People had their Barrels of
Drink unaccountably mischieved, spoil'd and spilt, upon
their displeasing of her.

The things in themselves were trivial, but there being
such a Course of them, it made them the more considered.
Among others, Martha Wood, gave her Testimony, That
a little after her Father had been employed in gathering
an account of flow's Conversation, they once and again
lost great quantities of Drink out of their Vessels, in such
a manner, as they could ascribe to nothing but Witchcraft.
As also, That How giving her some Apples, when she had
eaten of them she was taken with a very strange kind of
Amaze, insomuch that she knew not what she said or did.

VIII. There was likewise a Cluster of Depositions, That
one Isaac Cummings refusing to lend his Mare unto the hus-
band of this How, the Mare was within a day or two taken in
a strange condition : The Beast seemed much abused, being
bruised as if she had been running over the Rocks, and
marked where the Bridle went, as if burnt with a red hot
Bridle. Moreover, one using a Pipe of Tobacco for the

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 153

Cure of the Beast, a blue Flame issued out of her, took
hold of her Hair, and not only spread and burnt on her,
but it also flew upwards towards the Roof of the Barn, and
had like to have set the Barn on Fire : And the Mare dyed
very suddenly.

IX. Timothy Pearley and his Wife, testify'd, Not only
unaccountable Mischiefs befel their Cattle, upon their
having of Differences with this Prisoner : but also that they
had a Daughter destroyed by Witchcrafts ; which Daughter
still charged How as the Cause of her Affliction. And it
was noted, that she would be struck down whenever How
were spoken of. She was often endeavoured to be thrown
into the Fire, and into the Water, in her strange Fits :
Tho' her Father had corrected her for charging How with
bewitching her, yet (as was testified by others also) she
said, She was sure of it, and must dye standing to it.
Accordingly she charged How to the very Death ; and said,
Tho' How could afflict and torment her Body, yet she could
not hurt her Soul : And, That the Truth of this matter
would appear, when she would be dead and gone.

X. Francis Lane testified, That being hired by the
Husband of this How to get him a parcel of Posts and
Rails, this Lane hired John Pearly to assist him. This
Prisoner then told Lane, That she believed the Posts and
Rails would not do, because John Pearly helped him : but
that if he had got them alone, without John Pearly 's help,
they might have done well enough. When James How
came to receive his Posts and Rails of Lane, How taking
them up by the Ends, they, tho' good and sound, yet un-
accountably broke off, so that Lane was forced to get thirty

154 THE WONDERS OF

or forty more. And this Prisoner being informed of it,
she said, She told him so before, because Pearly helped
about them.

XI. Afterwards there came in the Confessions of several
other (penitent) Witches, which affirmed this How to be
one of those, who with them had been baptized by the Devil
in the River, at .A'ewZmry-Falls : before which he made
them there kneel down by the Brink of the River and
worshiped him.

V.
THE TRIAL OF MARTHA CARRIER, AT THE

COURT OF OYER AND TERMINER, HELD BY AD-
JOURNMENT AT SALEM, AUGUST 2. 1692.

I.

MARTHA CARRIER was Indicted for the bewitch-
ing certain Persons, according to the Form usual
in such Cases, pleading Not Guilty, to her Indictment ;
there were first brought in a considerable number of the
bewitched Persons ; who not only made the Court sensible
of an horrid Witchcraft committed upon them, but also
deposed, That it was Martha Carrier, or her Shape, that
grievously tormented them, by Biting, Pricking, Pinching
and Choaking of them. It was further deposed, That while
this Carrier was on her Examination, before the Magis-
trates, the Poor People were so tortured that every one
expected their Death upon the very spot, but that upon the

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. • 155

binding of Carrier they were eased. Moreover the Look
of Carrier then laid the Afflicted People for dead ; and
her Touch, if her Eye at the same time were off them,
raised them again : Which Things were also now seen
upon her Tryal. And it was testified, That upon the
mention of some having their Necks twisted almost round,
by the Shape of this Carrier, she reply ed, Its no matter
though their Necks had been twisted quite off.

II. Before the Tryal of this Prisoner, several of her own
children had frankly and fully confessed, not only that they
were Witches themselves, but that this their Mother had
made them so. This Confession theymade with great Shews
of Repentance, and with much Demonstration of Truth.
They related Place, Time, Occasion ; they gave an account
of Journeys, Meetings and Mischiefs by them performed,
and were very credible in what they said. Nevertheless,
this Evidence was not produced against the Prisoner at the
Bar, inasmuch as there was other Evidence enough to pro-
ceed upon.

III. Benjamin Abbot gave his Testimony, That last
March was a twelvemonth, this Carrier was very angry
with him, upon laying out some Land, near her Husband's :
Her Expressions in this Anger, were, That she would stick
as close to Abbot as the Bark stuck 'to the Tree ; and that
he should repent of it afore seven years came to an End,
so as Doctor Prescot should never cure him. These Words
were heard by others besides Abbot himself; who also
heard her say, She would hold his Nose as close to the
Grindstone as ever it was held since his Name was Abbot.
Presently after this, he was taken with a Swelling in hia

156 THE WONDERS OF

Foot, and then with a Pain in his Side, and exceedingly
tormented. It bred into a Sore, which was launced by
Doctor Prescot, and several Gallons of Corruption ran out
of it. For six Weeks it continued very bad, and then
another Sore bred in the Groin, which was also lanced by
Doctor Prescot. Another Sore then bred in his Groin,
which was likewise cut, and put him to very great Misery :
He was brought unto Death's Door, and so remained until
Carrier was taken, and carried away by the Constable,
from which very Day he began to mend, and so grew
better every Day, and is well ever since.

Sarah Abbot also, his Wife, testified, That her Hus-
band was not only all this while Afflicted in his Body, but
also that strange extraordinary and unaccountable Calamities
befel his Cattel ; their Death being such as they could
guess at no Natural Reason for.

IV. Allin Toothaker testify 'd, That Richard, the son
of Martha Carrier, having some difference with him, pulFd
him down by the Hair of the Head. When he Rose again,
he was going to strike at Richard Carrier ; but fell down
flat on his Back to the ground, and had not power to stir
hand or foot, until he told Carrier he yielded ; and then
he saw the shape of Martha Carrier, go off his breast.

This Toothaker, had Received a wound in the Wars ;
and he now testify'd, that Martha Carrier told him, He
should never be Cured. Just afore the Apprehending of
Carrier, he could thrust a knitting Needle into his wound,
four inches deep ; but presently after her being siezed, he
was throughly healed.

He further testify'd, that when Carrier and he some-

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 157

times were at variance, she would clap her hands at him,
and say, He should get nothing by it; whereupon he several
times lost his Cattle, by strange Deaths, whereof no
natural causes could be given.

V. John Rogger also testifyed, That upon the threatning
words of this malicious Carrier, his Cattle would be strangely
bewitched ; as was more particularly then described.

VI. Samuel Preston testify'd, that about two years ago,
having some difference with Martha Carrier, he lost a Coio
in a strange Preternatural unusual manner ; and about a
month after this, the said Carrier, having again some
difference with him, she told him ; He had lately lost a
Cow, and it should not be long before he lost another;
which accordingly came to pass; for he had a thriving and
well-kept Cow, which without any known cause quickly fell
down and dy'd.

VII. Phebe Chandler testify'd, that about a Fortnight
before the apprehension of Martha Carrier, on a Lords-
day, while the Psalm was singing in the Church, this
Carrier then took her by the shoulder and shaking her,
asked her, where she lived : she made her no Answer, al-
though as Carrier, who lived next door to her Fathers
House, could not in reason but know who she was. Quickly
after this, as she was at several times crossing the Fields,
she heard a voice, that she took to be Martha Carriers,
and it seem'd as if it was over her head. The voice told
her, she should within two or three days be poisoned.
Accordingly, within such a little time, one half of her right
hand, became greatly swollen, and very painful ; as also
part of her Face : whereof she can give no account how

158 THE WONDERS OF

it came. It continued very bad for some dayes ; and
several times since, she has had a great pain in her breast ;
and been so seized on her leggs, that she has hardly been
able to go. She added, that lately, going well to the House
of God, Richard, the son of Martha Carrier, look'd very
earnestly upon her, and immediately her hand, which had
formerly been poisoned, as is abovesaid, began to pain her
greatly, and she had a strange Burning at her stomach ;
but was then struck deaf, so that she could not hear any
of the prayer, or singing, till the two or three last words
of the Psalm.

VIII. One Foster, who confessed her own share in the
Witchcraft for which the Prisoner stood indicted, affirm'd,
that she had seen the prisoner at some of their Witch-meet-
ings, and that it was this Carrier, who perswaded her to
be a Witch. She confessed, that the Devil carry'd them
on a pole, to a Witch-meeting ; but the pole broke, and
she hanging about Carriers neck, they both fell down, and
she then received an hurt by the Fall, whereof she was not
at this very time recovered.

IX. One Lacy, who likewise confessed her share in this
Witchcraft, now testify'd, that she and the prisoner were
once Bodily present at a Witch-meeting in Salem Village;
and that she knew the prisoner to be a Witch, and to have
been at a Diabolical sacrament, and that the prisoner was
the undoing of her, and her Children, by enticing them
into the snare of the Devil.

X. Another Lacy, who also confessed her share in this
Witchcraft, now testify'd, that the prisoner was at the
Witch-meeting, in Salem Village, where they had Bread
and Wine Administred unto them.

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 159

XI. In the time of this prisoners Trial, one Susanna
Sheldon, in open Court had her hands Unaccountably ty'd
together with a wheel-band, so fast that without cutting,
it could not be loosed : It was done by a Spectre; and the
Sufferer affirm'd, it was the Prisoners.

Memorandum. This rampant Hag, Martha Carrier,
was the person, of whom the Confessions of the Witches,
and of her own children among the rest, agreed, That the
Devil had promised her, she should be Queen of ffeb.

HAVING thus far done the Service imposed upon me ;
I will further pursue it, by relating a few of those
Matchless CURIOSITIES, with which the Witchcraft now
upon us, has entertained us. And I shall Report nothing
but with Good Authority, and what I would invite all my
Readers to examine, while 'tis yet Fresh and New, that if
there be found any mistake, it may be as willingly Re-
tracted, as it was unwillingly Committed.

THE FIRST CURIOSITIE.

I. 'Tis very Remarkable to see what an Impious and
Impudent imitation of Divine Things, is Apishly affected
by the Devil, in several of those matters, whereof the Con-
fessions of our Witches, and the Afflictions of our Sufferers
have informed us.

That Reverend and Excellent Person, Mr. John Higgin-

160 THE WONDERS OF

son, in my Conversation with him, Once invited me to this
Reflection ; that the Indians which came from far to settle
about Mexico, were in their Progress to that Settlement,
under a Conduct of the Devil, very strangely Emulating
what the Blessed God gave to Israel in the Wilderness.

Acosta, is our Author for it, that the Devil in their Idol
' Vitzlipultzli, governed that mighty Nation. He com-

* manded them to leave their Country, promising to make

* them Lords over all the Provinces possessed by Six other
'Nations of Indians, and give them a Land abounding
'with all precious fhings. They went forth, carrying
'their Idol with them, in a Coffer of Reeds, supported
'by Four of their Principal Priests; with whom he still
' Discoursed in secret, Revealing to them the Successes,
'and Accidents of their way. He advised them, when
' to March, and where to Stay, and without his Command-
' ment they moved not. The first thing they did, where-
' ever they came, was to Erect a Tabernacle, for their false
' god ; which they set always in the midst of their Camp,
'and they placed the Ark upon an Alter. When they,
' Tired with pains, talked of, proceeding no further in their
' Journey, than a certain pleasant Stage, whereto they were
' arrived, this Devil in one Night, horribly kill'd them that
' had started this Talk, by pulling out their Hearts. And
' so they passed on till they came to Mexico.'

The Devil which then thus imitated what was in the
Church of the Old Testament, now among Us would Imitate
the Affairs of the Church in the New. The Witches do say,
that they form themselves much after the manner of Con-
gregational Churches; and that they have a Baptism and a

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 161

Supper, and Officers among them, abominably Resem-
bling those of our Lord.

But there are many more of these Bloody Imitations, if
the Confessions of the Witches are to be Received ; which
I confess, ought to be but with very much Caution.

What is their stricking down with a fierce Look ? What
is their making of the Afflicted Rise, with a touch of their
Hand ? What is their Transportation thro' the Air ?
What is their Travelling in Spirit, while their Body is cast
into a Trance ? What is their causing of Cattle to run
mad and perish ? What is their Entring their Names in a
Book ? What is their coming together from all parts, at
the Sound of a Trumpet ? What is their Appearing some-
times Cloathed with Light or Fire upon them ! What is
their Covering of themselves and their Instruments with
Invisibility? But a Blasphemous Imitation of certain
Things recorded about our Saviour or His Prophets, or the
Saints in the Kingdom of God.

A SECOND CURIOSITIE.

II. In all the Witchcraft which now Grievously Vexes
us, I know not whether anything be more Unaccountable,
than the Trick which the Witches have to render them-
selves, and their Tools Invisible. Witchcraft seems to be
the Skill of Applying the Plastic Spirit of the World,
unto some unlawful purposes, by means of a Confederacy
with Evil Spirits. Yet one would wonder how the Evil
Spirits themselves can do some things ; especially at In-
visibilizing of the Grossest Bodies. I can tell the Name
of an Ancient Author, who pretends to show the way, how
a man may come to walk about Invisible, and I can tell the

162 THE WONDERS OF

Name of another Ancient Author, who pretends to Explode
that way. But I will not speak too plainly Lest I should
unawares Poison some of my Readers, as the pious Hemin-
gius did one of his Pupils, when he only by way of Diver-
sion recited a Spell, which, they had said, would cure
Agues. This much I will say ; The notion of procuring
Invisibility, by any Natural Expedient, yet known, is I
Believe, a meer PLINYISM ; How far it may be obtained
by a Magical Sacrament, is best known to the Dangerous
Knaves that have try'd it. But our Witches do seem to
have got the knack : and this is one of the Things, that
make me think, Witchcraft will not be fully understood,
until the day when there shall not be one Witch in the
World.

There are certain people very Dogmatical about these
matters; but I'll give them only these three Bones to pick.

First, One of our bewitched people, was cruelly assaulted
by a Spectre, that, she said, ran at her with a spindle: tho'
no body else in the Room, could see either the Spectre or
the spindle. At last, in her miseries, giving a snatch at
the Spectre, she pull'd the spindle away, and it was no
sooner got into her hand, but the other people then present,
beheld, that it was indeed a Real, Proper, Iron sjiindle,
belonging they knew to whom ; which when they lock'd up
very safe, it was nevertheless by Demons unaccountably
stole away, to do further mischief.

Secondly, another of our bewitched people, was haunted
with a most abusive Spectre, which came to her, she said,
with a sheet about her. After she had undergone a deal
of Teaze, from the Annoyance of the Spectre, she gave a

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 163

violent snatch at the sheet, that was upon it ; wherefrom
she tore a corner, which in her hand immediately became
Visible to a Koomful of Spectators • a palpable Corner of
a Sheet. Her Father, who was now holding her, catch'd
that he might keep what his Daughter had so strangely
siezed, but the unseen Spectre had like to have pulPd his
hand off, by endeavouring to wrest it from him ; however
he still held it, and I suppose has it, still to show; it being
but a few hours ago, namely about the beginning of this
October, that this Accident happened ; in the family of one
Pitman, at Manchester.

Thirdly, A young man, delaying to procure Testimonials
for his Parents, who being under confinement on suspicion
of Witchcraft, required him to do that service for them,
was quickly pursued with odd Inconveniences. But once
above the Rest, an Officer going to put his Brand on the
Horns of some Coivs, belonging to these people, which tho
he had siez'd for some of their debts, yet he was willing
to leave in their possession, for the subsistance of the poor
Family ; this young man help'd in holding the Cows to be
thus branded. The three first Cows he held well enough ;
but when the hot Brand was clap'd upon the Fourth, he
winc'd and shrunk at such a Rate, as that he could hold
the Cow no longer. Being afterwards Examined about it,
he confessed, that at that very instant when the Brand
entered the Cow's Horn, exactly the like burning Brand
was clap'd upon his own Thigh ; where he has exposed
the lasting marks of it, unto such as asked to see them.

Unriddle these Things, — Et Eris mihi magnus Apollo.

164 THE WONDERS OF

A THIRD CURIOSITIE.

III. If a Drop of Innocent Blood should be shed, in the
Prosecution of the Witchcrafts among us, how unhappy are
we ! For which cause, I cannot express myself in better
terms, than those of a most Worthy Person, who lives near
the present Center of these things. The Mind of God in
these matters, is to be carefully lookt into, with due Cir-
cumspection, that Satan deceive us not ivith his Devices,
who transforms himself into an Angel of Light, and may
pretend justice and yet intend mischief. But on the other
side, if the storm of Justice do now fall only on the Heads
of those guilty Witches and Wretches which have defiled
our Land, How Happy !

The Execution of some that have lately Dyed, has been
immediately attended, with a strange Deliverance of some,
that had lain for many years, in a most sad Condition,
under, they knew not whose evil hands. As I am abun-
dantly satisfy'd, That many of the Self-Murders com-
mitted here, have been the effects of a Cruel and Bloody
Witchcraft, letting fly Demons upon the miserable Seneca's;
thus, it has been admirable unto me to see, how a Devilish
Witchcraft, sending Devils upon them, has driven many
poor people to Despair, and persecuted their minds, with
such Buzzes of Atheism and Blasphemy, as has made them
even run distracted ivith Terrors : And some long Bow'd
down under such a spirit of Infirmity, have been mar-
velously Recovered upon the death of the Witches.

One Whetford particularly ten years ago, challenging
of Bridget Bishop (whose Trial you have had) with steel-
ing of a Spoon, Bishop threatiied her very direfully : pre-

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 165

sently after this, was PFhetford in the Night, and in her
Bed, visited by Bishop, with one Parker, who making the
Room light at their coming in, there discoursed of several
mischiefs they would inflict upon her. At last they pull'd
her out, and carried her unto the Sea-side, there to drown
her ; but she calling upon God, they left her, tho' not
without Expressions of their Fury. From that very time,
this poor Whetford was utterly spoilt, and grew a Tempted,
Froward, Crazed sort of a Woman ; a vexation to her self,
and all about her ; and many ways unreasonable. In this
Distraction she lay, till those women were Apprehended,
by the Authority; then she began to mend; and upon
their Execution, was presently and perfectly Recovered,
from the ten years madness that had been upon her.

A FOURTH CUEIOSITIE.

IV. 'Tis a thousand pitties, that we should permit our
Eyes, to be so Blood-shot with passions, as to loose the
sight of many wonderful things, wherein the Wisdom and
Justice of God, would be Glorify 'd. Some of those things,
are the frequent ^pparittons of Ghosts, whereby many
Old JHuttoflS among us, come to be considered. And,
among many instances of this kind, I will single out one,
which concerned a poor man, lately Prest unto Death, be-
cause of his Refusing to Plead for his Life. I shall make
an Extract of a Letter, which was written to my Honour-
able Friend, Samuel Setval, Esq. ; by Mr. Putman, to this
purpose ;

' The Last Night my Daughter Ann, was grievously
1 Tormented by Witches, Threatning that she should be

166 THE WONDERS OF

'Pressed to Death, before Giles Cory. But thro' the

* Goodness of a Gracious God, she had at last a little Re-

* spite. Whereupon there appeared unto her (she said) a

* man in a Winding Sheet, who told her that Giles Gory

* had Murdered him, by Pressing him to Death with his
' Feet ; but that the Devil there appeared unto him, and
' Covenanted with him, and promised him, He should not
lbe Hanged. The Apparition said, God Hardned his
' heart ; that he should not hearken to the Advice of the
' Court, and so Dy an easy Death ; because as it said, It
1 must be done to him as he has done to me. The Appari-
' tion also said, That Giles Gory, was carry'd to the Court
' for this, and that the Jury had found the murder, and
' that her Father knew the man, and the thing was done
' before she was born. Now Sir, This is not a little strange

* to us ; that no body should Remember these things, all
' the while that Giles Gory was in Prison, and so often
' before the Court. For all people now Remember very
' well, (and the Records of the Court also mention it,) That
' about Seventeen Years ago, Giles Gory kept a man in his
' House, that was almost a Natural Fool : which Man Dy'd
'suddenly. A Jury was impannel'd upon him, among
' whom was Dr. Zerobbabel Endicot; who found the man
' bruised to Death, and having dodders of Blood about his
' Heart. The Jury, whereof several are yet alive, brought
' in the man Murdered ; but as if some Enchantment had
' hindred the Prosecution of the Matter, the Court Pro-
' ceeded not against Giles Cory, tho' it cost him a great deal
' of Mony to get off." Thus the Story.

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 167

THE Reverend and Worthy Author, having at the
Direction of His EXCELLENCY the Governour,
so far Obliged the Publick, as to give some Account of the
Sufferings brought upon the Countrey by Witchcraft ; and
oftheTryals which have passed upon several Executed for
the Same :

Upon Perusal thereof, We find the matters of Fact and
Evidence, Truly reported. And a Prospect given of the
Methods of Conviction, used in the Proceedings of the
Court at Salem.

Boston, Octob. 11. William Stoughton,

1692. Samuel Sewall.

BUT is New-England, the only Christian Countrey,
that hath undergone such Diabolical Molestations 1
No, there are other Good people, that have in this way
been harassed ; but none in circumstances more like to
Ours, than the people of God, in Sweedland. The story is
a very Famous one ; and it comes to speak English by the
Acute Pen of the Excellent and Renowned Dr. Horneck.
I shall only single out a few of the more Memorable passages
therein Occurring ; and where it agrees with what hap-
pened among ourselves, my Reader shall understand, by
my inserting a Word of every such thing in IftlflCtt Hctt£t.
I. It was in the Year 1669 and 1670, That at Mohra
in Sweedland, the BebtlS by the help of &Httcf)e0, com-
mitted a most horrible outrage. Among other Instances of
Hellish Tyranny there exercised. One was, that Hundreds
of their Children, were usually in the Night fetched from their

168 THE WONDERS OF

Lodgings, to a Diabolical Rendezvous, at a place they
called, JBlockula, where the Monsters that so Spirited them,
STemptefc them all manner of Ways to HsSOCtate with
them. Yea, such was the perillous Growth of this Witch-
craft, that Persons of Quality began to send their Children
into other Countries to avoid it.

II. The Inhabitants had earnestly sought God by
Stager ; and get their Affliction <£CttttnU£&. Where-
upon ^futigeS had a Special (ftommiggiOU to find and
root out the Hellish Crew ; and the rather, because another
County in the Kingdom, which had been so molested, was
delivered upon the Execution of the Witches.

III. The (^lamination, was begun with a Day of
lilumiltatton ; appointed by Authority. Whereupon the
Commissioners (EOttSUltiltg, how they might resist such a
Dangerous Flood, the Buffering <£f)tltftcn, were first
Examined ; and tho' they were Questioned (&nt by ©U£
apart, yet their BedatatumS &U &gmfc. The
S2tlitcf)flS Accus'd in these Declarations, were then Ex-
amined; and tho' at first they obstinately jDnttrtl,yet at
length many of them ingeniously (ftonfCSSrfo the Truth of
what the children had said ; owning with Tears, that the

whom they call'd Locyta, had S^Opt their
but he being now <£oite from them, they
could ISTo Honger (Eonceal the Business. The things
by them ^dtnctolctrgrtl, most wonderfully &gmtl with
what other Witches, in other places had confessed.

IV. They confessed, that they did use to (£all tipon
the lifbtl,who thereupon would C^atl'g them away, over
the Tops of Houses, to a Green Meadow, where they gave

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 169

themselves unto him. Only one of them said, That some-
times the Devil only took away her jfcttntgtf), leaving her
i5otJ|) on the ground ; but she went at other times in $3oto,l>
too.

V. Their manner was to come into the <*Tf)amf)erj3 of
people, and fetch away their children upon Beasts, of the
Devils providing: promising Jf(M <£loatf)S and other
Fine Things unto them, to inveagle them. They said,
they never had power to do thus, till of late ; but now the
Devil did Blague and $3eat them, if they did not gratifie
him, in this piece of Mischief. They said, they made use
of all sorts of instruments in their Journeys ! Of JHen ,
of leasts, of posts ; the Men they commonly laid asleep
at the place, whereto they rode them ; and if the chil-
dren mentioned the ^aitt^S of them that stole them
away, they were miserably JJcUtQtftf for it, until some of
them were killed. The ^llfcgeS found the marks of the
Lashes on some of them; but the Witches said, 3Tf)fll)
toOUttJ (QutCfclg bantSf). Moreover the Children would
be in grange JlFttS, after they were brought Home from
these Transportations.

VI. The jFtCSt 2Tf)mg, they said, they were to do at
Blockula, was to give themselves unto the Devil, and "fcJotO
that they would serve him. Hereupon, they rut tijfIC
jFmgerS, and with iSIOOtl writtheir J/lameSin his

And he also caused them to be iSapttSCtl by such $)( i
as he had, in this Horrid company. In SOttttf of them, the
J^lark of the CUt jFmger was to be found ; they said,
that the Devil gave Jfteat and J3rink, as to Them, so to
the Children they brought with them: that afterwards

170 THE WONDERS OF

their Custom was to Dance before him ; and swear and
curse most horribly ; they said, that the Devil show'd them
a great, Frightful, Cruel Dragon, telling them, $£ tf)0g
Confessed ang Cf)tngt he would let loose that Great
Devil upon them ; they added, that the Devil had a (ftljutd) ,
and that when the 3futig£# were coming, he told them, f)0
toOUltf kill tjjem all; and that some of them had

Ettemptetr to JEuttot; tf)e Surges, but coufo not,

VII. Some of the <£i)ir&Wt, talked much of a &2itf)tte
&ngel, which did use to ^otfuti them, what the Devil had
bid them to do, and &SSUCC them that these doings would
iB^Ot last long ; but that what had been done was per-
mitted for the wickedness of the People. This
Ungel, would sometimes rescue the Children,

tn, with the Witches.

VIII. The Witches confessed many mischiefs done by
them, declaring with what kind of ISncfjanteti

they did their Mischiefs. They sought especially
j^limSter of ElfddU, but could not. But some of them
said, that such as they wounded, would %&t tCCObCttftf,
upon or before their Execution.

IX. The 3fu1jgeS would fain have seen them show
some of their CUCftS ; but they Unanimously declared,
that, Stnce tfjej) fjatr COnfeSSrtr, all, they found all their

gone; and the Devil then gtypearefc berg
unto them, threatning with an iron dFotfc, to
thrust them into a Burning Pit, if they persisted in their
Confession.

X. There were discovered no less than threescore and
ten Witches in One Village, tjtee antJ ttoentj) of which

THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 171

their Crimes, were condemned to dy.
The rest, (©lie pretending she was with Child) were sent
to Fahluna, where most of them were afterwards executed.
Fifteen Children, which confessed themselves engaged in
this Witchery, dyed as the rest. Six and Thirty of them
between nine and sixteen years of Age, who had been less
guilty, were forced to run the Gantlet, and be lashed on
their hands once a Week, for a year together; twenty
more who had less inclination to these Infernal enterprises,
were lashed with Kods upon their Hands for three Sun-
days together, at the Church door; the number of the
seduced Children, was about three hundred. This course,
together with ^tagttJS, in all the Churches thro' the King-
dom, issued in the deliverance of the Country.

XI. The most Accomplished Dr. Horneck inserts a most
wise caution, in his preface to this Narrative, says he,
there is no Public Calamity, but some ill people, will serve
themselves of the sad providence, and make use of it for
their own ends; as Thieves when an house or town is on
Fire, will steal what they can. And he mentions a Re-
markable Story of a young Woman, at Stockholm, in the
year 1676, Who accused her own Mother of being a Witch;
and swore positively, that she had carried her away in the
Night ; the poor Woman was burnt upon it : professing
her innocency to the last. But tho' she had been an 111
Woman, yet it afterwards prov'd that she was not such an
one ; for her Daughter came to the Judges, with hideous
Lamentations, Confessing, That she had wronged her
Mother, out of a wicked spite against her; whereupon the
Judges gave order for her Execution too.

172 TEE DEVIL

But, so much of these things ; And, now, Lord, make
these Labours of thy Servant, Profitable to thy People.

MATTER OMITTED IN THE TRIALS.
NINETEEN Witches have been Executed at New-England,
one of them was a Minister, and two Ministers more are
Accus'd. There is a hundred Witches more in Prison,
which broke Prison, and about two Hundred more are
Accus'd, some Men of great Estates in Boston, have been
accus'd for Witchcraft. Those Hundred now in Prison
accus'd for Witches, were Committed by fifty of themselves
being Witches, some of Boston, but most about Salem, and
the Towns Adjacent. Mr. Increase Mather has Published
a Book about Witchcraft, occasioned by the late Trials of
Witches, which will be speedily printed in London by John
Dwiton.

THE DEVIL DISCOVERED.

2 Cor. II. 11. We are not Ignorant of his DEVICES.

OUR Blessed Saviour has blessed us, with a counsil, as
Wholsome and as Needful as any that can be given
us, in Matth. 26. 41. Watch and Pray, that yee Enter not
into Temptation. As there is a Tempting Flesh, and a
Tempting World, which would seduce us from Our Obe-
dience to the Laws of God, so there is a Busy Demi, who
is by way of Eminency called, The Tempter ; because by
him, the Temptation of the Flesh and the World are
managed.

DISCOVERED. 173

It is not One Devil alone, that has Cunning or Power
enough to apply the Multitudes of Temptations, whereby
Mankind is daily diverted from the Service of God ; No,
the High Places of Our Air, are Swarming full of those
Wicked Spirits, whose Temptations trouble us ; they are
so many, that it seems no less than a Legion, or more than
twelve thousands may be spared, for the Vexation of one
miserable man. But because those Apostate Angels, are
all United, under one Infernal Monarch, in the Designs of
Mischief, 'tis in the Singular Number, that they are spoken
of. Now, the Devil, whose Malice and Envy, prompts
him to do what he can, that we may be as unhappy as
himself, do's ordinarily use more Fraud, than Force, in his
assaulting of us ; he that assail'd our First Parents, in a
Serpent, will still Act Like a Serpent, rather than a Lion,
in prosecuting of his wicked purposes upon us, and for us
to guard against the Wiles of the Wicked One, is one of
the greatest cares, with which our God has charged us.

We are all of us liable to various Temptations every
day, whereby if we are carried aside from the strait Paths
of Righteousness, we get all sorts of wounds unto our selves.
Of Temptations, I may say, as the Wise Man said, of Mor-
tality ; there is no discharge from that war. The Devils
fell hard upon both Adams, nor may any among the Chil-
dren of both, imagine to be excused. The Son of God
Himself, had this Dog of Hell, barking at Him ; and much
more may the Children of Men, look to be thus Visited ;
indeed, there is hardly any Temptation, but what is, Com-
mon to Man. When I was considering, how to spend one
Hour in Raising a most Effectual and Profitable Breast-

174 THE DEVIL

work, against the inroads of this Enemy, I perceived it
would be done, by a short answer to this.

CASE.

What are those Usual Methods of Temptation, with
which the Powers of Darkness do assault the Children of
Men?

The Corinthians, having upon the Apostles Direction,
Excommunicated one of their Society, who had married
his Mother-in-law, & this, as it is thought, while his own
Father was Living too ; the Apostle encourages them to
Re-admit that man, upon his very deep and sharp Re-
pentance. He gives divers Reasons of his propounding
this unto them ; whereof one is, Lest Satan should get ad-
vantage of them ; for, had the man miscarried, under any
Rigour of the Sentence continued upon him, after his Re-
pentance, 'tis well if the Church itself had not quickly fallen
to pieces thereupon ; besure, the Success of the Gospel had
been more than a little Incommoded. The Apostle upon
this occasion intimates, That Satan has his Devices ; by
which word are meant, Artifices or Contrivances used for
the Deceiving of those that are Treated with them well, But
what shall we do that we may come to this Corinthian
Attainment, We are not Ignorant of Satan's Devices ?\Non
cuivis homini Contingit.^

Truly, the Devil has Mille Nocendi Artes ; and it will
be impossible for us, to run over all the Stratagems
and Policies of our Adversary. I shall only attempt
a few Observations upon the Temptations of our Lord
Jesus Christ : who was Tempted in all things like

DISCOVERED. 175

unto us, except in our Sins. When we read the Temp-
tations of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the Fourth Chapter
of Matthew There, Thence, you will understand, what
was once counted so difficult ; Even, The way of a Ser-
pent upon the Rock. There are certain Ancient and
Famous Methods which the Devil in his Temptations,
does mostly accustome himself unto; which is not so much
from any .Barrenness, or Sluggishness in the Devil, but
because he has had the Encouragement of a, Probatum est,
upon those horrid Methods. How did the Devil assault
the First Adam? It was with Temptations drawn from
Pleasure, and Profit, and Honour, which, as the Apostle
notes, in 1 Joh. 2. 16, are, All that is in the World. With
the very same temptations, it was, that he fell upon the
Second Adam too. Now, in those Temptations, you will
see the more Usual Methods, whereby the Devil would be
Ensnaring of us ; and I beseech you to attend unto the fol-
lowing Admonitions, as those Warnings of God, which the
Lives of your souls depend upon your taking of.

There were especially Three Remarkable Assaults of
Temptations, which the Devil it seems, visibly made upon
our Lord ; after he had been more invisibly for Forty dayes
together Tempting of that Holy One ; and we may make
a few distinct Remarks upon them all.

§ The first of our Lords three Temptations is thus re-
lated, in Mat. 4. 3. He was an Hungry ; and when the
Tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God,
Command that these Stones be made Bread.

From whence, take these Remarks.

I. The Devil will ordinarily make our Conditions, to be

176 THE DEVIL

the Advantages of his Temptations. When our Lord was
Hungry, then Bread! Bread! shall be all the Cry of his
Temptation ; the Devil puts him upon a wrong step, for the
getting of Bread. There is no Condition, but what has in-
deed some Hunger accompanying of it ; and the Devil marks
what it is, that we are Hungry for. One mans Condition
makes himHunger for Preferments, or Employments, another
mans makes him Hunger for Cash or Laud, or Trade ;
another mans makes him Hunger for Merriments, or Diver-
sions : And the Condition of every Afflicted Man, makes
him Hunger with Impatience for Deliverance. Now the
Devil will be sure to suit his Perswasions with ourConditions.
When he has our Condition to speak with him, & for him,
then thinks he, / am sure this man will now hearken to my
Proposals! Hence, if men are in Prosperity, the Devil
will tempt them to Forgetfulness of God ; if they are in
Adversity, he will tempt them to Murmuring at God; in
all the expressions of those impieties. Wise Agur was
aware of this ; in Prov. 30, 9. says he, if a man be Full,
he shall be tempted, to deny God, and say, who is the
Lord? if a man be Poor, he shall be tempted, to steal, and
take the Name of God in vain. The Devil will talk suit-
ably ; if you ponder your Conditions, you may expect you
shall be tempted agreeably thereunto.

II. The Devil does often manage his temptations, by
urging of our Necessities. Our Lord, was thus by the
Devil bawl'd upon; You want Bread, and you'll starve, if
in my way you get it not. The Devil will show some for-
bidden thing unto us, and plead concerning it, as of Bread
we use to say, it must be had. Necessity has a wonderful

DISCOVERED. 177

compulsion in it. You may see what Necessity will do, if
you read in Deut. 2S. 56. The tender and the delicate
Woman among you, her eye shall be evil towards the
Children that she shall bear, for she shall eat them for
want of all things. The Devil will perswade us that there
is a Necessity of our doing what he does propound unto us ;
and then tho' the Laws of God about us were so many Walls
of Stone, yet we shall break through them all. That little
inconvenience, of our coming to beg our Bread, 0 what a
fearful Representation does the Devil make of it ! and when
once the Devil scares us to think of a sinful thing, it must be
done, we soon come to think, it may be done. When the
Devil has frighted us into an Apprehension, that it is a
Needful thing which we are prompted unto, he presently
Engages all the Faculties of our Souls, to prove, that it may
be a Lawful one ; the Devil told Esau, You'll dye if you
don't sell your Birthright ; the Devil told Aaron, You'll
pull all the people about your ears, if you do not counte-
nance their superstitions; and then they comply'd imme-
diately. Yea, sometimes if the Devil do but Feign a
Necessity, he does thereby Gain the Hearts of Men ; he
did but feign a Need, when he told Saul, the Cattel must
be spared, and the sacrifice must be precipitated, & he does
but feign a Need, when he tells many a man, if you do no
servile work on the Sabbath-day, and if you don't Rob
God of his evening, you'll never subsist in the world. All
the denials of God, in the world, use to be from this Fallacy
impos'd upon us. It never can be necassary for us to
violate any Negative Commandment in the Law of our
God; where God says, thou shalt not, we cannot upon any

N

178 THE DEVIL

pretence reply, I must. But the Devil will put a most
formidable and astonishing face of necessity upon many of
those Abominable things, which are hateful to the soul of
God. He'll say nothing to us about, the one thing need-
ful • but the petite and the sorry Need-nots of this world,
he'll set off with most bloody Colours of Necessity. He
will not say, 'tis necessary for you to maintain the Favour
of your God, and secure the welfare of your Soul ; but he'll
say, 'tis necessary for you to keep in with your Neighbours;
and that you and yours may have a good Living among
them.

III. The Devil does insinuate his most Horrible Temp-
tations, with pretence, of much Friendship and Kindness
for us. He seemed very unwilling that our Lord should
want any thing that might be comfortable for him ; but, he
was a Devil still ! The Devil flatters our Mother Eve, as if
he was desirous to make her more Happy than her Maker
did • but there was the Devil in that flattery. Sub Amid

fallere Nomen,-^ to Salute men with prefers to do all

manner of Service for them ; and at the same time to Stab
them as Joab did Abner of old; this is just like the Devil,
and the Devil truly has many Children that Imitate him
in it. Some very Affectionate Things were spoken once
unto our Lord ; Lord, be it far from thee, that thou
shouldest su/er any Trouble! But our Lords Answer was,
in Mat. 16. 23. Get thee behind me, Satan. The Devil
will say to a man, / would have thee to Consult thy own
Interest, and I would have Trouble to be far from. thee.
He speaks these Fair Things, by the Mouths of our pro-
fessed Friends unto us, as he did by the Tongue of a

DISCOVERED. 179

Speckled Snake unto our Deluded Parents at the first. But
all this while, 'tis a Direction that has been wisely given
us ; When he speaks fair, Believe him not, for there are
seven Abominations in his Heart.

IV. Things in themselves Allowable and Convenient,
are oftentimes turned into sore Temptations by the Devil.
He press'd our Lord unto the making of Bread ; Why,
that very thing was afterwards done by our Lord, in the
Miracles of the Loaves; and yet it is now a motion of the
Devil, Pray, make thyself a Little Bread. The Devil will
frequently put men by, from the doing of a seasonable
Duty; but how? Truly by putting us upon another Duty,
which may be at that juncture a most Unseasonable Thing.
It is said in Eccl. 8. 5. A Wise Mans heart discerns both
Time and Judgment. The Ill-Timing of good Things,
is One of the chief Intregues, which the Devil has to
Prosecute. The Devil himself, will Egg us on to many a
Duty ; and why so ? But because at that very Time a more
proper and Useful Duty, will have a Supersedeas given
thereunto. And, thus there are many Things, whereof
we can say, though no more than this, yet so much as this,

They are Lawful ones, by which Lawful Things Peri-

mus Omncs. Where shall we find that the Devil has laid
our most fatal Snares? Truly, our Snares are on the Bed,
where it is Laivful for us to Sleep ; at the Board, where
it is Lawful for us to Sit ; in the Cup, where 'tis Lawful
to Drink; and in the Shops, where we have Lawful Busi-
ness to do. The Devil will decoy us, unto the utmost
Edge of the Liberty that is Lawful for us ; and then one
Little push, hurries us into a Transgression against the

180 THE DEVIL

Lord. And the Devil by Inviting us to a Lawful thing,
at a wrong time for it, Layes us under further Entangle-
ment of Guilt before God. 'Tis Lawful for People to use
Kecreations ; but in the Evening of the Lords Day, or the
Morning of any Day, how Ensnaring are they ! The
Devil then too commonly bears part in the Sport. If Pro-
miscuous Dancing were Lawful ; though almost all the
Christian Churches in the World, have made a Scandal of
it ; yet for Persons to go presently from a Sermon to a
Dance, is to do a thing, which Doubtless the Devil makes
good Earnings of.

V. To distrust Gods Providence and Protection, is one
of the worst things, into which the Devil by his Temptations
would be hurrying of us. He would fain have driven our
Lord unto a Suspicion of Gods care about Him, said the
Devil, You may dy for lack of Bread, if you do not look
better after your self, than God is like to do for you. It
is an usual thing for Persons to dispair of Gods Fatherly
Care Concerning them ; they torture themselves with dis-
tracting and amazing Fears, that they shall come to want
before they dy ; Yea, they even say with Jonas, in Chap.
2. 4. / am cast out of the sight of God ; He won't look
after me ! But it is the Devil that is the Author of all such
Melaneholly Suggestions in the minds of men. It is a
thought that often raises a Feaver in the Hearts of Married
Persons, when Charges grow upon them ; God will never
be able in the way of my Calling, to feed and cloath all
my Little Folks. It is a thought with which Aged persons
are often tormented, Tho' God has all my dayes hitherto
supplied me, yet I shall be pinched with Straits before I

DISCOVERED. 181

come to my Journeys end. 'Tis a malicious Devil that
raises these Evil surmisings in the hearts of Men. And
sometimes a distemper of Body affords a Lodging for the
Devil, from whence he shoots the cruel Bombs of such
Fiery Thcwghts into the minds of many other persons.
With such thoughts does the Devil choose to persecute us ;
because thereby we come to Forfeit what we Question.
We Question the Care of God, and so we Forfeit it, until
perhaps the Devil do utterly drown us in Perdition. Our
God says, Trust in the Lord, and do good, and verily
tfiou shalt be fed. But the Devil says, don't you trust in
God ; be afraid that you shall not be fed ; and thus he
hinders men from the doing of Good.

VI. There is nothing more Frequent in the Temptations
of the Devil, than for our Adoption to be doubted, because
of our Affliction. When our Lord was in his Penury, then
says the Devil, If thou be the Son of God; he now makes
an If, of it ; What ? the Son of God, and not be able to
Command a Bit of Bread! Thus, when we are in very
Afflictive Circumstances, this will be the Devils Inference,
Tlwu art not a Child of God. The Bible says in Ileb.
12. 7. If you are Chastened, it is a shrow'd sign that you
can't be Children* Since he can't Rob us of our Grace,
he would Rob us of our Joy ; and therefore having Accused
us unto God, he then Accuses God unto us. When Israel
was weak and faint in the Wilderness, then did Amalek
set upon them ; just so does the Devil set upon the people
of God, when their Losses, their Crosses, their Exercises
have Enfeebled their Souls within them ; and what says
the Devil 1 E'en the same that was mutter'd in the Ear of

182 THE DEVIL

the Afflicted Job, Is not this the Uprightness of thy Ways ?
Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being Innocent?
If thou wert a Child of God, He would never follow thee,
with such Testimonies of his Indignation. This is the
Logic of the Devil ; and he thus interrupts that patience,
and that Chearfulness wherewith we should suffer the will
of God.

VII. To dispute the Divine Original and Authority of
Gods Word, is not the least of those Temptations with
which the Devil troubles us. G-od from Heaven, had
newly said unto our Lord, this is my Beloved Son ; but
now the Devil would have him to make a dispute of it, //
thou be the Son of God. The Devil durst not be so Im-
pudent, and Brasen fac'd, as to bid men use Pharaohs
Language, Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice ?
But he will whisper into our Ears, what he did unto our
Mother Eve of old, It is not the Lord that hath spoken
what you call his Word. The Devil would have men say
unto the Scripture, what they said unto the Prophet, in
Jer. 43. 2. Thou speakest falsely ; the Lord our God hath
not sent thee to speak what thou sayst unto us; & he would
fain have secret & cursed Misgivings in our hearts, that
things are not altogether so as the Scripture has represented
them. The Devil would with all his heart make one huge
Bonefire of all the Bibles in the world ; & he has got
Millions of persecutors to assist him in the suppression of
that miraculous book. It was the devil once in the tongue
of a Papist, that cry'd out, A plague on this bible ; this
'tis that does all our mischief. But because he can't Sup-
press this Book, he sets himself, to Disgrace it all that he

DISCOVERED. 183

can. Altho' the Scripture carries its own Evidence with
it, and be all over, so pure, so great, so true, and so power-
ful, that it is impossible it should proceed from any but
God alone; yet the Devil would gladly bring some Discredit
upon it, as if it were but some Humane Contrivance;
Of nothing, is the Devil more desirous, than this; That we
should not count, Christ so precious, Heaven so Glorious,
Hell so Dreadful, and Sin so odious, as the Scripture has
declared it.

§ The Second of our Lords Three Temptations, is
related after this manner, in Mat. 4. 5, 6. Then the Devil
taketh him, up, into the Holy City, and setteth him upon
a Pinocle of the Temple ; and saith unto him, if thou be
the Son of God, cast thy self down ; for it is written,
He shall give his Angels charge concerning thee, and in
their hands, they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou
dash thy Foot against a Stone.

From whence take these Remarks.

I. The places of the greatest Holiness will not secure us
from Annoyance by the Temptations of the Devil, to the
greatest wickedness. When our Lord was in the Holy
City, the Devil fell upon him there. Indeed, there is now no
proper Holiness of Places in our Days ; the Signs and Means
of Gods more special Presence are not under the Gospel,
ty'd unto any certain places: Nevertheless there are places,
where we use to enjoy much of God ; and where, altho'
God visit not the Persons for the sake of the Places, yet
he visits the Places for the sake of the Persons. But, I am to
tell you that the Devil will visit those Places and best Persons
there. No Place, that I know of, has got such a Spell

184 THE DEVIL

upon it, as will always keep the Devil out. The Meeting-
House wherein we Assemble for the Worship of God, is
fill'd with many Holy People, and many Holy Concerns
continually ; but if our Eyes were so refined as the Servant
of the Prophet had his of old, I suppose we should now see
a Throng of Devils in this very place. The Apostle has
intimated, that Angels come in among us ; there are
Angels it seems that hark, how I Preach, and how you
Hear, at this Hour. And our own sad Experience is enough
to intimate, That the Devils are likewise Rendevouzing
here. It is Reported, in Job 1. 5. When the Sons of God
came to present themselves before the Lord, Satan came
also among them. When we are in our Church-Assemblies,
0 how many Devils, do you imagine, croud in among us !
There is a Devil that rocks on to Sleep, there is a Devil
that makes another to be thinking of, he scarce knows what
himself; and there is a Devil, that make another, to be
pleasing himself with wanton and wicked Speculations.
It is also possible, that we have our Closets, or our Studies,
gloriously perfumed with Devotions every day ; but alas,
can we shut the Devil out of them ? No, Let us go where
we will, we shall still find a Devil nigh unto us. Only,
when we come to Heaven, we shall be out of his reach for
ever ; 0 thou foul Devil ; we are going where tJiou canst
not come ! He was hissed out of Paradise, and shall never
enter it any more. Yea, more than so, when the New
Jerusalem comes down into the High Places of our Air,
from whence the Devil shall then be banished, there shall
be no Devil within the Walls of that Holy City. Amen,
Even so Lord Jesus, Come quickly.

DISCOVERED. 185

II. Any other acknowledgments of the Lord Jesus Christ,
will be permitted by the Temptations of the Devil, provided
those Acknowledgments of him, which are True and Full,
may be thereby prevented. What was it, that the Devil
hurried our Lord Jesus Christ unto the Top of the Temple
for ? Surely it could not meerly be to find Precipices; any
part of the Wilderness would have afforded Them. No,
it was rather to have Spectators. And why so, Why, the
carnal Jews had an Expectation among them ; that Elias
was to fly from Heaven to the Temple ; and the Devil
seems willing, that our Lord should be cry'd up for Elias,
among the giddy multitude ; or any thing in the World,
tho never so considerable otherwise, rather than to be re-
ceived as the Christ of God. The Devil will allow his
Followers to think very highly of the Lord Jesus Christ ;

0 but he is very lothe to have them think, All. We read
in Col. 1.19. It has pleased the Father -, that in Him there
should all fulness dwell. But it is pleasing to the Devil
that we deny something of the Immense Fullness, which
is in our Lord. The Devil would confess to our Lord,
Thou art the Holy One of God! but then he claps in, Thou
art Jesus of Nazareth; which was to conceal our Lords
being Jesus of Bethlehem, and so his being, The True
Messiah. All the Heresies, and all the Persecutions, that
ever plagued the Church of God, have still been, to strike
at some Glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. A CHRIST
Entirely Acknowledged, will save the Souls of them that
so Acknowledge Him ; but, says the Devil, Whatever tides

1 must not give way to that. As they say, The Devil makes
Witches unable to utter all the Lords Prayer, or some

186 THE DEVIL

such System of Religion, without some Deprevations of it ;
thus the Devil will consent that we may make a very large
Confession of the Lord Jesus Christ ; only he will have us
to deprave it, at least in some one Important Article.
Some one Honour, some one Office, and some one Ordi-
nance of the Lord Jesus Christ, must be always left un-
acknowledged, by those that will do as the Devil would
have them.

III. High Stations in the Church of God, lay men open
to violent and peculiar Temptations of the Devil. When
our Lord was upon the Pinacle, that is not the Fane, or
Spire, but the Battlements of the Temple, there did the
Devil pester him, with singular Molestations, and he therein
seems to intend an Entanglement for the Jews, as well
as for our Lord. Believe me they that stand High, cannot
stand safe. The Devil is a Nimrod, a mighty Hunter ;
and common or little Game, will not serve his Turn : he
is a Leviathan, of whom we may say, as in Job 41. 34.
He, beholds all high things. Men of high Attainments,
and Men of high Employments, in the Church of God,
must look, like Peter, to be more Sifted, and like Paul, to
be more Bu/eted than other Men. Ferunt Summos Ful-

mina Monies. The Devil can raise a Storm, when God

permitteth it, but as for those Men that stand near Heaven,
the Devil will attack them with his most cruel storms of
Thunder and Lightening. It was said, let him that stand-
eth take heed; but we may say, They that stand most high,
have cause to take most heed. The Devil is a Goliah ;
and when he finds a Champion, he'l be sure most fiercely
to Combate such a Man. He is for, Killing many Birds

DISCOVERED. 187

with one stone ; and he knows that he shall hinder a world
of Good, and produce a world of III, if once he can bring
a Man Eminently Stationed into his Toyls. Hence 'tis
that the Ministers of God, are more dogg'd by the Devil,
than other persons are. Especially such Ministers, as
move in the highest Orb of Serviceableness ; and most of
all such Ministers as have spent many years in Laudable
Endeavours to be serviceable; Those Ministers are the
Stars of Heaven, at which the Tayl of the Dragon, will
give the most sweeping and most stinging strokes ; the
Devil will find that for them, that shall make them Walk
softly all their Days. These are the Men, that have
creepled, and vexed the Devil more than other Men ; for
which the Devil has an old Quarrel with them. 0 Neigh
bours, little do you think, what black Days of Mourning,
and Fasting, and Praying before the Lord, a Raging Devil
does fill the lives of such Men of God withall.

IV. The Devil will make a deceitful and unfaithful use
of the Scriptures to make his Temptations forceable. When
the Devil Solicited our Lord, unto an evil thing, he quoted
the Ninety First Psalm unto him, tho' indeed he fallaciously
clip'd it, and maim'd it, of one clause very material in it.
0 never does the Devil make such dangerous Passes at us,
as when he does wrest our own Sword out of our Hands,
and push That upon us. We have to defend us, that
Weapon in Eph. 6. 16. The Sword of the Spirit, which is
the word of God; but when the Devil has that very Weapon
to fight us with, he makes terrible work of it. When the
Devil would poyson men with false Doctrines, he'l quote
Scriptures for them; a Quaker himself, will have the First

188 THE DEVIL

Chapter of John always in his mouth. When the Devil
would perswade men to vile Actions, he'l quote Scriptures
for them ; he'l encourage men to go on in Sin, by showing
them, where 'tis said, The Lord is ready to Pardon. I
say this, The one story of Davids Fall, in the Scripture,
has been made by the Devil an Engine for the Damnation
of many Millions. The Devil will fright men from doing
those things, that are, the Things of their Peace; but How ?
He'l turn a Scripture into a Scare-crow for them. The
Devil will fright them from all constant Prayer to God, by
quoting that Scripture, The Sacrifice of the Pricked, is an
Abomination to the Lord; the Devil will fight them from
the Holy Supper of God, by quoting that Scripture, He
that Eats and Drinks unworthily, Eats and Drinks dam-
nation to himself. And thus the Devil will by some abused
Scripture, Terrifie the Children of God ; the Scripture is
written as we are told, For our Comfort; but it is quoted
by the Devil, for our terror. How many Godly Souls
have been cast into sinful Doubts and Fears, by the Devils
foolish glosses upon that Scripture, He that doubts, is
Damned; and that, the fearful shall have their portion
in the burning lake : The Devil sometimes has play'd the
Preacher, but I say, Beware all silly Souls when such a
Fool is Preaching.

V. Grievous and Pulling Hurries to Self-Murder are
none of the smallest outrages, which the Devil in his
Temptations commits upon us. Why did the Devil say to
our Lord, Cast thy self down, but in hopes that our Lord
would have broke his Bones, in the fall? The Devil is an
Old Murthertr; and he loves to Murder men ; but no

DISCOVERED. 189

Murder gives him so much satisfaction, as that which at
his instigation, men perpetrate upon themselves. We see
that such as are Bewitched and Possessed by the Devil, do
quickly lay violent hands upon themselves, if they be not
watched continually, and we see that when persons have
begun that Unnatural business of killing themselves, there
is a Preternatural Stupendious Prodigious Assistance, by
the Devil given thereunto. " When people are going to
Harm themselves, we call upon them, like those to the
Jailor, in Acts 1 6. 28. Do thyself no harm! And we have
this Argument for it, It is the Devil that is dragging of
you to this mischief; but will you believe, ivill you obey
such an one as the Devil is ? What was it that made Judas
to strangle himself 1 We read it was when the Devil was
in him. I suppose there are few self-murderers, but what
are first very strangely fallen into the Devils hands ; and
possibly, 'tis by some Extraordinary Discontent against
God, or back-sliding from him, that the Devil first entred
into those disturbed Souls. Indeed, some very great Saints
of God, have sometimes had hideous Royls raised by the
Devil in their minds ; untill they have e'en cry'd out with
Job, I choose strangling rather than Life; and sometimes
the ill Humours or Vapours in the Bodies of such Good
Men, do so harbour the Devil that they have this woful
motion every day thence made unto them ; You must kill
your self! you must! you must! But it is rarely any
other than aSaul, an Abimelek, an Achitophel, or a Judas;
rarely any other, than a very Reprobate, whom the Devil
can drive, while the man is Compos Mentis, to Consum-
mate such a Villany. Yea, no Child of God, in his Right

190 THE DEVIL

Senses can go so far in this impiety, as to be left without
all Time and Room for true Repentance of the Crime ; 'tis
thus done, by none but those that go to the Devil. A
self-murder, acted by one that is upon other accounts a
Reasonable man, is but such an attempt of Revenge upon
the God that made him, as none but one full of the Devil
can be guilty of. If any of you are Dragoon'd by the
Devil, unto the murdering of your selves, my Advice to
you is, Disclose it, Reveal it, make it known immediately.
One that Out his own Throat among us, Expired crying
out, 0 that / had told! 0 that I had told! You may spoil
the Devil, if you'l Tell what he is a doing of.

VI. Presumptuous and Unwarrantable Trials of the
Blessed God, are some of those things whereinto the Devil
would fain hook us with his Temptations. This was that
which the Devil would have brought our Lord unto, even
A tempting of the Lord our God. It is the charge of our
God upon us, in Deut. 6. 16. Thou shalt not Tempt the
Lord thy God. But that which the Devil Tries, is, to put us
upon Trying in a sinful way, whether God be such a God
as indeed he is. 'Tis true as to the ways of Obedience, our
God says unto us, Prove me, in those ways ; Try, whether
I won't be as good as my Word. But then there are
ways of Presumption, wherein the Devil would have us to
trie, what a God it is, With whom we have to do. The
Devil would have us to trie the Purpose of God, about our
selves or others ; but how? By going to the Devil himself ;
by Consulting A strologers, or Fortune Tellers ; or perhaps by
letting the Bible fall open, to see what is the first Sentence
we light upon. The De-vil would have us trie the Mercy

DISCOVERED. 191

of God, but how? By running into Dangers, which we have
no call unto. He would have us trie the Power of God ;
but how? By looking for good things, without the use of
Means for the getting of them. He would have us trie
the Justice of God ; but how? By venturing upon Sin in
a Corner, with an Imagination that God will never bring
us out. He would have us trie the Promise of God ; but
how? By Limiting the Lord, unto such or such a way of
manifesting Himself, or else believing of nothing at all.
He would have us trie the Threatning of God ; but how ?
By going on impeuitently in those things, for which the
Wrath of God comes upon the Children of Disobedience.
Thus would the Devil have us to affront the Majesty of
Heaven every day.

VII. The Temptations of the Devil, aim at puffing and
bloating of us up, with Pride; as much perhaps as any
one iniquity. The Devil would have had Our Lord make
a Vain glorious Discovery of himself unto the World, by
Flying in ike air, so as no mortal can. Hoc Ithacus
velit — the Devil would have us to soar aloft, and not only
to be above other men, but also to know that we are so,
Pride is the Devils own sin ; and he affects especially to
be, The King over the Children of Pride, it is a caution in
1 Tim. 3. 6. A Pastor must not be A Novice ; Lest
being lifted up with Pride, He fall into the condemnation
of the Devil. (Summo ac Pio cum Tremor e Hunc Textum
Legamus nos Ministri Juvenes!) Accordingly, the Devil
would have us to be inordinately taken and moved with
what Excellencies our God has bestowed upon us. If our
Estates rise, he would have us rise in our Spirits too. If

192 THE DEVIL

we have been blessed with Beauty, with Breeding, with
Honour, with Success, with Attire, with Spiritual Privi-
ledges, or with Praise-worthy Performances; Now says
the Devil, Think thy self better than other Men. Yea, the
Devil would have us arrogate unto our selves, those Ex-
cellencies which really we were never owners of ; and Boast
of a false Gift. He would have us moreover to Thirst
after Applause among others that may see Our Excellencies!
and be impatient if we are not accounted some-body. He
would have us furthermore, to aspire after such a Figure,
as God has never yet seen fitting for us ; and croud into
some High Chair that becomes us not. Thus would the
Devil Elevate us into the Air, above our Neighbours ; and
why so 1 'Tis that we may be punished with such Falls, as
may make us cry out with David, 0 my bones are broken
with my Falls! The Devil can't endure to see men lying
in the Dust; because there is no falling thence. He is a
Fallen Spirit himself, and it pleases him to see the Falls
of men.

§ The Third of Our Lords Three Temptations, is re-
lated in such Terms as these. Matth. 4. 8, 9. Again the
Devil taketh him up, into an exceeding High Mountain,
and sheweth him all the Kingdoms of the world, and tlie
glory of them : and saith unto him, all these things ivill
give thee, if thou wilt fall down and Worship me. Froi
whence take these Remarks.

I. The Devil in his Temptations will set the Delight
this world before us ; but he'll set a fair, and a false Vamis
upon those Delights. They were some unknown Perspt
tives, which the Devil had, both for the Refracting of the

DISCOVERED. 193

Medium, and for the Magnifying of the Object, whereby
he gave our Lord at once a prospect of the whole Roman
Empire ; but what was it ? It was the World, and the
Glory of it ; he says not a word of the World, and the
Trouble of it. No sure ; not a word of that ; the Devil
will not have his Hook so barely expos'd unto us. The
Devil sets off the Delights of Sin, which he offers unto us,
with a stretched and raised Rhetorick ; but he will not
own, That in the midst of our Laughter, our Hearts shall
be sorrowful ; and That the end of our Mirth shall be
Heaviness. There is but one Glass in the Spectacles, with
which the Devil would have us to read, those passages in
Eccles. 11. 9. Rejoyce, 0 young Man in thy youth, and
let thy Heart chear thee in the Dayes of thy youth, and
walk in the ways of thy Heart, and in the sight of thine
Eyes. Thus far the Devil would have us to Read ; and
he'll make many a fine Comment upon it ; he'll tell us,
That if we follow the Courses of the World, we shall
swim in all the Delights of the World. But he is not
willing you should Read out the next words ; But know
thou, that for all these things God shall bring thee into
Judgment. 0 he's loth we should be aware of the dreadful
Issues, and Reckonings that our Worldly Delights will be
attended with. He sets before us, The Pleasures of Sin;
but he will not say, These are but for a Season. He sets
before us, The Sweet Waters of Stealth ; but he will not
say, There is Death in the Pot. He is a Mountebank, that
will bestow nothing but Romantic Praises upon all that he
makes us the Offers of.

II. There are most Hellish Blasphemies often buzz'd by

194 THE DEVIL

the Temptations of the Devil, into the minds of the best
Men alive. What a most Execrable Thing was here laid
before our Lord Himself: Even, To own the Devil as God!
a thing that can't be uttered, without unutterable Horror
of Soul. The best man on earth, may have such Fiery
Darts from Hell shot into his mind. One that was acted
by the Devil, had the impudence to propound this unto
such a good man as Job, Curse God. And the Devil
pleases himself, by chusing the Hearts of good men, with
his base Injections, That there is no God, or, That God is
not a Righteous God; and a thousand more such things
too Devilish to be mentioned. A good man is extreamly
grieved at it, when he hears a Blasphemy from the mouth
of another man; said the Psalmist, in Psal. 44. 15, 16.
My Confusion is continually before me, for the voice of
him that Blasphemeth. But much more when a good man
finds a Blasphemy in his own Heart ; 0 it throws him into
most Fevourish Agonies of Soul. For this cause, a mis-
chievous Devil, will Flie Bloiv the Heart of such a man,
with such Blasphemous Thoughts, as make him crie out,
Lord, I am e'en weary of my life. Yea, the Devil serves
the man just as the Mistress of Joseph dealt with
him ; he importunes the man to think wickedly from
Day to Day ; and if the man refuse, he cries out at
last, Behold, what wicked thoughts this man has lodging
in him. Sayst thou so? Satan! No, they are Baits
of thy own ; and at thy Door alone shall they be laid for
ever.

III. There is a sort of Witchcrafts in those things,
whereto the Temptations of the Devil would inveigle us.

DISCOVERED. 195

To worship the Devil is Witchcraft, and under that notion
was our Lord urged unto sin. We are told in 1 Sam. 15.
23. Rebellion is as the sin of Witchcraft : When the Devil
would have us to sin, he would have us to do the things
which the forlorn Witches use to do. Perhaps there are
few persons, ever allured by the Devil unto an Explicit
Covenant with himself. If any among ourselves be so, my
councel is, that you hunt the Devil from you, with such
words as the Psalmist had, Be gone, Depart from me, ye
evil doers, for I ivill keep the Commandments of my God.
But alas, the most of men, are by the Devil put upon doing
the things that are Analogous to the worst usages of
Witches. The Devil says to the sinner, Despise thy Baptism,
and all the Bond of it, and all the Good of it. The
Devil says to the sinner, Come, cast off the Authority
of God, and refuse the Salvation of Christ for ever.
Yea, the Devil who is called, The God of this World,
would have us to take Him for our God, and rather
Hear Him, Trust Him, Serve Him, than the God that
formed us.

IV. The Temptations of the Devil do Tug and Pull for
nothing more, than that the Rulers of the World may
yield Homage unto him. Our Lord has had this by his
Father Engag'd unto him, That he shall one day ~be
Governour of the Nations. The Devil doe's extreamly
dread the approach of that Illustrious time, when The
Kingdom of God shall come, and his Will be done, as in
Heaven, and on Earth. For this cause it was that he was
desirous, Our Lord should rather have accepted of him, that
Kingdom, which Antichrist afterwards accepted of him, for

196 THE DEVIL

the Establishment of Devil-worship, in the World. I may
tell you, The D.evil is mighty unwilling, that there should
be one Godly Magistrate upon the face of the Earth.
Such is the influence of Government, that the Devil will
every where stickle mightily, to have that siding with him.
What Rulers would the Devil have, to command all man-
kind, if he might have his will ? Even, such as are called
in Psal. 94. 20. The throne of iniquity, which frames mis-
chief by a Law ; such as will promote Vice, by both
Connivance, and Example ; and such as will oppress all
that shall be Holy, and Just, and Good. All men have
cause therefore to be jealous, what Use the Devil may
make of them, with reference to the Affairs of Government ;
but Rulers may most of all think, that the Lord Jesus
from Heaven calls upon them, Satan has desired that he
might Sift you, and have you ; 0 look to it, what side
you take.

Thus have you in the Temptations of our Lord, seen the
principal of those Devices, which the Devil has to Entrap
oui' Souls. But what shall we now do, that we may be
fortified against those Devices 1 0 that we might be well
furnished with the Whole Armour of God ! But me thinks,
there were some things attending the Temptations of our
Lord, which would especially Recommend those few Hints
unto us for our Guard.

First, If you are not fond of Temptation, be not fond of
Needless, or Too much Retirement. Where was it, that the
Devil fell upon our Lord ? it was when he was Alone in the
Wilderness. We should all have our Times to be Alone

DISCOVERED. 197

every Day ; and if the Devil go to scare us out of our
Chambers, with such a Bugbear, as that he'll appear to
us, yet stay in spite of his teeth, stay to finish your Devo-
tions ; he Lyes, he dare not shew his head. But on the
other-side by being too solitary, we may lay our selves too
much open to the Devil ; You know who says, Wo to him
that is alone.

Secondly, Let an Oracle of God be your defence against
a Temptation of Hell. How did our Lord silence the Devil ?
It was with an, It is ivritten! And all his Three Citations
were from that one Book of Deuteronomy. What a full
Armoury then have we, in all the sacred Pages that lie
before us ! Whatever the Words of the Devil are, drown
them with the words of the Great God. Say, It is Written.
The Belshazzar of Hell will Tremble and Withdraw, if
you show these Hand- Writings of the Lord.

Lastly, Since the Lord Jesus Christ has conquered all
the Temptations of the Devil, Flie to that Lord, Crie to
that Lord, that He would give you a share in his Happy
Victory. It was for Us that our Lord overcame the Devil :
and when he did but say, Satan, Get hence, away presently
the Tygre flew : Does the Devil molest Us ? Then let us Re-
pair to our Lord, who say s,7 know how to succour the Tempted.
Said the Psalmist, Psal. 61.2. Lead me to the Rock that is
higher than I. A Woman in this Land being under the
Possession of Devils, the Devils within her, audibly spoke
of diverse Harms they would inflict upon her ; but still
they made this answer, Ah! She Runs to the Rock/
She Runs to the Rock! and that hindered all. 0 this

198 THE DEVIL DISCOVERED.

Running to the Rock; 'tis the best Preservation in the
World ; the Vultures of Hell cannot prey upon the Doves
in the Clefts of that Rock. May our God now lead us
thereunto.

A FURTHER

ACCOUNT

OF THE

T R Y A L S

OF THE

WITH THE

OBSERVATIONS

Of a Perfon who was upon the Place feveral

Days when the fufpefted Witches were

firft taken into Examination.

To which is added,

Cafes of Confctence

Concerning Witchcrafts and Evil Spirits Per- |

fonating Men.
Written at tne Requeft of the Minifters of New -England.

By Increafe Mather, Prefident of Harvard Colledge.
Hicertfeu atfD Gntrefc accoruina to SDrtcr.

London : Printed for 3J. Bunion, at the Raven in the Pou/trey.
1693. Of whom *nay be had the Third Edition' of Mr. Gotten
Mather's Firjl Account of the Tryals of the New- England
Witches, Printed on the fame fize with this Laft Account, that
they may bind up together.

A TRUE NARRATIVE of some Remarkable
Passages relating to sundry Persons afflic-
ted by Witchcraft at Salem Village in
New-England, which happened from the
I9th. of March to the 5th. of April, 1692.

COLLECTED BY DEODAT LAWSON.

the Nineteenth day of March last I went
to Salem Village, and lodged at Nathaniel
Inger sol's near to the Minister Mr. P.'s
House, and presently after I came into my
Lodging, Capt. Walcut's Daughter Mary came to Lieut.
IngersoVs and spake to me ; but suddenly after, as she
stood by the Door, was bitten, so that she cried out of her
Wrist, and looking on it with a Candle, we saw apparently
the marks of Teeth, both upper and lower set, on each side
of her Wrist.

In the beginning of the Evening I went to give Mr. P.
a Visit. When I was there, his Kinswoman, Abigail
Williams, (about 1 2 Years of Age) had a grievous fit ;
she was at first hurried with violence to and fro in the

202 THE EXAMINATION OF THE

Room (though Mrs. Ingersol endeavoured to hold her)
sometimes making as if she would fly, stretching up her
Arms as high as she could, and crying. Whisli, Whish,
Whish, several times ; presently after she said, there was
Goodw. N. and said, Do you not see her ? Why there
she stands! And she said, Goodw. N. offered her THE
BOOK, but she was resolved she would not take it, saying
often, / wont, I wont, I wont take it, I do not know what
Book it is : I am sure it is none of God's Book, it is the
Devil's Book for ought I know. After that, she ran to
the Fire, and began to throw Fire-brands about the House,
and run against the Back, as if she would run up Chimney,
and, as they said, she had attempted to go into the Fire in
other Fits.

On Lords Day, the Twentieth of March, there were
sundry of the afflicted Persons at Meeting, as Mrs. Pope,
and Good wife Bibber, Abigail Williams, Mary Walcut,
Mary Lewes, and Doctor Grigg's Maid. There was also
at Meeting, Goodw ife (7. (who was aUeiward Examined
on suspicion of being a Witch: They had several sore
Fits in the time of Publick Worship, which did something
interrupt me in my first Prayer, being so unusual. After
Psalm was sung, A bigail Williams said to me, Now stand
up, and name your Text! And after it was read, she
said, It is a long Text. In the beginning of the Sermon, Mrs.
Pope, a Woman afflicted, said to me, Now there is enough
of that. And in the Afternoon, Abigail Williams,
upon my referring to my Doctrine, said to me, / know
no Doctrine you had, If you did name one, I have for-
got it.

NEW-ENGLAND WITCHES. 203

In Sermon time, when Goochvife C. was present in 'the
Meeting-House, Ah. W. called out. Look where Goodwife
C. sits on the Beam suckling her Yellow Bird betwixt her
fingers/ Ann Putman, another Girle afflicted, said, There
was a Yellow Bird sat on my Hat as it hung on the Pin
in the Pulpit; but those that were by, restrained her from
speaking aloud about it.

On Monday the 2lst. of March, the Magistrates of
Salem appointed to come to Examination of Goodwife C.
And about Twelve of the Clock they went into the Meet-
ing-House, which was thronged with Spectators. Mr.
Noyes began with a very pertinent and pathetical Prayer;
and Goodwife C. being called to answer to what was
alledged against her, she desired to go to Prayer, which was
much wondred at, in the presence of so many hundred
People : The Magistrates told her, they would not admit
it ; they came not there to hear her Pray, but to Examine
her, in what was Alledged against her. The Worshipful
Mr. Hathorne asked her, Why she afflicted those Children ?
She said, she did not afflict them. He asked her, who did
then? She said, / do not know; How should I know?
The Number of the Afflicted Persons were about that
time Ten, viz. Four Married Women, Mrs. Pope, Mrs.
Putman, Goodwife Bibber, and an Ancient Woman,
named Goodall; three Maids, Mary Walcut, Mercy Lewes,
at Thomas Putman' s, and a Maid at Dr. Griggs's; there
were three Girls from 9 to 1 2 Years of Age, each of them,
or thereabouts, viz. Elizabeth Parris, Abigail Williams,
and Ann Putman ; these were most of them at Goodwife
C.'s Examination, and did vehemently Accuse her in the

204 THE EXAMINATION OF THE

Assembly of Afflicting them, by Biting, Pinching, Strang-
ling, &c. And that they in their Fits see her Likeness
coming to them, and bringing a Book to them ; she said
she had no Book ; they affirmed, she had a Yellow Bird,
that used to suck betwixt her Fingers, and being asked
about it, if she had any Familiar Spirit, that attended
her1? she said, She had no Familiarity with any such thing.
She was a Gospel Woman : Which Title she called her self
by ; and the Afflicted Persons told her, Ah ! she was A
Gospel Witch. Ann Putman did there affirm, that one
day when Lieutenant Fuller was at Prayer at her Father's
House, she saw the shape of Goodwife C. and she thought
Goodwife N. Praying at the same time to the Devil; she
was not sure it was Goodwife N., she thought it was ; but
very sure she saw the shape of Goodwife C. The said C.
said, they were poor distracted Children, and no heed to
be given to what they said. Mr. Hathorne and Mr. Noyes
replyed, It was the Judgment of all that were present, they
were Beivitched, and only she the Accused Person said,
they were Distracted. It was observed several times, that
if she did but bite her under lip in time of Examination,
the Persons afflicted were bitten on their Arms and Wrists,
and produced the Marks before the Magistrates, Ministers,
and others. . And being watched for that, if she did but
Pinch her Fingers, or Grasp one Hand hard in another,
they were Pinched, and produced the Marks before the
Magistrates, and Spectators. After that, it was observed,
that if she did but lean her Breast against the Seat in the
Meeting-House, (being the Bar at which she stood), they
were afflicted. Particularly Mrs. Pope complained of griev-

NEW-ENGLAND WITCHES. 205

ous Torment in her Bowels, as if they were torn out. She
vehemently accused the said C. as the Instrument, and
first threw her Muff at her ; but that flying not home, she
got off her shoe, and hit Goodwife (7. on the Head with it.
After these Postures were watched, if the said C. did but
stir her Feet, they were afflicted in their Feet, and stamped
fearfully. The afflicted Persons asked her, why she did not
go to the Company of Witches which were before the
Meeting-House Mustering 1 Did she not hear the Drum
beat ? They accused her of having Familiarity with the
Devil, in the time of Examination, in the shape of a Black
Man whispering in her Ear; they affirmed, that her
Yellow Bird sucked betwixt her Fingers in the Assembly;
and Order being given to see if there were any sign, the
Girl that saw it, said, it was too late now ; she had removed
a Pin, and put it on her Head; which was found there stick-
ing upright.

They told her, she had Covenanted with the Devil for
ten Years, six of them were gone, and four more to come.
She was required by the Magistrates to answer that Ques-
tion in the Catechism, How many persons be there in the
God-head ? She answered it but oddly, yet was there no
great thing to be gathered from it ; she denied all that was
charged upon her, and said, They could not prove a Witch;
she was that Afternoon Committed to Salem Prison; and
after she was in Custody, she did not so appear to them,
and afflict them as before.

On Wednesday the 23d. of March, I went to Thomas
Putman's, on purpose to see his Wife : I found her lying
on the Bed, having had a sore Fit a little before; she

206 THE EXAMINATION OF THE

spake to me, and said, she was glad to see me ; her Hus-
band and she both desired me to Pray with her while she
was sensible ; which I did, though the Apparition said, /
should not go to Prayer. At the first beginning she
attended ; but after a little time, was taken with a Fit ;
yet continued silent, and seemed to be Asleep : When
Prayer was done, her Husband going to her, found her in
a Fit; he took her off the Bed, to set her on his Knees,
but at first she was so stiff, she could not be bended ; but
she afterwards sat down, but quickly began to strive vio-
lently with her Arms and Leggs ; she then began to Com-
plain of, and as it were to Converse Personally with,
Goodwife N. saying, Goodivife N. Be gone 1 Be gone /
Be gone / are you not ashamed, a Woman of your Pro-
fession, to afflict a poor Creature so ? What hurt did I
ever do you in my life ? You have but two Years to live,
and then the Devil will torment your Soul ; for this your
Name is blotted out of God's Book, and it shall never be
put in God's Book again ; be gone for shame, are you not
afraid of that which is coming upon you ? 7 know, I
know what will make you afraid ; the wrath of an Angry
God, I am sure that will make you afraid • be gone, do
not torment me, I know what you would have (we judged
she meant, her Soul) but it is out of your reach ; it is
cloathed with the white Robes of Christ's Righteousness.
After this, she seemed to dispute with the Apparition about
a particular Text of Scripture. The Apparition seemed
to deny, it ; (the Womans Eyes being fast closed all this
time) she said, She was sure there was such a Text, and
she would tell it ; and then the Shape would be gone, for,

NEW-ENGLAND WITCHES. 207

said she, / am sure you cannot stand before that Text !
Then she was sorely Afflicted, her Mouth drawn on one
side, and her Body strained for about a Minute, and then
said, / will tell, I will tell ; it is, it is, it is, three or four
times, and then was afflicted to hinder her from telling, at
last she broke forth, and said, It is the third Chapter of
the Revelations. I did something scruple the reading it,
and did let my scruple appear, lest Satan should make any
Superstitiously to improve the Word of the Eternal God.
However, tho' not versed in these things, I judged I might
do it this once for an Experiment. I began to read, and
before I had near read through the first Verse, she opened
her Eyes, and was well ; this Fit continued near half an
hour. Her Husband and the Spectators told me, she had
often been so relieved by reading Texts that she named,
something pertinent to her Case; as Isa. 40. 1. Isa. 49.
1. Isa. 50. 1. and several others.

On Thursday the Twenty -Fourth of March, (being in
course the Lecture-Day at the Village,) Goodwife N. was
brought before the Magistrates Mr. Hathorne and Mr.
Corwin, about Ten of the Clock in the Forenoon, to be
Examined in the Meeting-House, the Reverend Mr. Hale
begun with Prayer, and the Warrant being read, she was
required to give Answer, Why she Afflicted those persons ?
She pleaded her own Innocency with earnestness. Thomas
Putman'sWife, Abigail Williams, and Thomas Putman's
Daughter, accused her that she appeared to them, and
afflicted them in their Fits ; but some of the others said,
that they had seen her, but knew not that ever she had
hurt them ; amongst which was Mary Walcut, who was

208 THE EXAMINATION OF THE

presently after she had so declared bitten, and cryed out of
her in the Meeting-House, producing the Marks of Teeth
on her wrist. It was so disposed, that I had not leisure to
attend the whole time of Examination, but both Magistrates
and Ministers told me, that the things alledged by the
afflicted, and defences made by her, were much after the
same manner as the former was. And her motions did
produce like effects, as to Biting, Pinching, Brusing,
Tormenting, at their Breasts, by her Leaning, and when
bended back, were as if their Backs were broken. The
afflicted Persons said, the Black Man whispered to her in
the Assembly, and therefore she could not hear what the
Magistrates said unto her. They said also, that she did
then ride by the Meeting-House, behind the Black Man.
Thomas Putmaris Wife had a grievous Fit in the time of
Examination, to the very great impairing of her strength,
and wasting of her spirits, insomuch as she could hardly
move hand or foot when she was carried out. Others also
were there grievously afflicted, so that there was once such
a hideous scrietch and noise (which I heard as I walked
at a little distance from the Meeting-House) as did amaze
me, and some that were within, told me the whole Assem-
bly was struck with Consternation, and they were afraid,
that those that sate next to them were under the Influence
of Witchcraft. This Woman also was that day committed
to Salem Prison. The Magistrates and Ministers also did
inform me, that they apprehended a Child of Sarah G.
and examined it, being between 4 and 5 years of Age.
And as to matter of Fact, they did unanimously affirm,
that when this Child did but cast its Eye upon the afflicted

NEW-ENGLAND WITCHES. 209

Persons, they were tormented ; and they held her Head,
and yet so many as her Eye could fix upon were afflicted.
Which they did several times make careful Observation of:
The afflicted complained, they had often been Bitten by
this Child, and produced the marks of a small set of teeth
accordingly ; this was also committed to Salem Prison, the
Child looked hail, and well as other Children. I saw it
at Lieut. Jngersol's. After the Commitment of Goodw.
N. Tho. Putman's Wife was much better, and had no vio-
lent Fits at all from that '24th. of March, to the 5th. of
April. Some others also said they had not seen her so
frequently appear to them, to hurt them.

On the 25 th. of March (as Capt. Stephen Sewal of
Salem did afterwards inform me) Eliz. Paris had sore Fits
at his House, which much troubled himself, and his Wife,
so as he told me they were almost discouraged. She re-
lated, that the great Black Man came to her, and told her,
if she would be ruled by him, she should have whatsoever
she desired, and go to a Golden City. She relating this to
Mrs. Sewal, she told the Child, it was the Devil, and he
was a Lyarfrom the Beginning, and bid her tell him so,
if he came again : which she did accordingly, at the next
coming to her, in her Fits.

On the 2$th. of March, Mr. Hathorne, Mr. Corwin, and
Mr. Higison, were at the Prison-Keeper's House to Ex-
amine the Child, and it told them there, it had a little
Snake that used to suck on the lowest Joynt of its Fore-
Finger; and when they enquired where, pointing to other
places, it told them, not there, but there, pointing on the
lowest Joint of the Fore-Finger, where they observed a
p

210 THE EXAMINATION OF THE

deep Red Spot, about the bigness of a Flea-bite ; they asked
who gave it that Snake ? whether the great Black Man ?
It said no, its Mother gave it.

The 31 of March there was a Publick Fast kept at
Salem on account of these Afflicted Persons. And Abigail
Williams said, that the Witches had a Sacrament that day
at an house in the Village, and that they had Red Bread
and Pied Drink. The first of April, Mercy Lewis, Thomas
Putman's Maid, in her Fit, said, they did eat Red Bread,
like Man's Flesh, arid would have had her eat some, but
she would not ; but turned away her head, and spit at
them, and said, / will not Eat, I will not Drink, it is
Blood, &c., she said, That is not the Bread of Life; that
is not the Water of Life; Christ gives the Bread of Life;
I will have none of it ! The first of April also Mercy Lewis
aforesaid saw in her Fit a White Man, and was with him
in a glorious Place, which had no Candles nor Sun, yet
was full of Light and Brightness; where was a great Multi-
tude in White glittering Robes, and they Sung the Song
in the fifth of Revelation, the 9th verse, and the 1 W Psalm,
and the 149 Psalm; and said with her self, How long shall
I stay here ! let me be along with you : She was loth to
leave this place, and grieved that she could tarry no longer.
This white Man hath appeared several times to some of
them, and given them notice how long it should be before
they had another Fit, which was sometimes a day, or day
and half, or more or less, it hath fallen out accordingly.

The 3d of April, the Lord's-day, being Sacrament-day,
at the Village, Goodw. C, upon Mr. Parris's naming his
Text, John 6, 70. One of them is a Devil, the said Goodw.

NEW-ENGLAND WITCHES. 211

C. went immediately out of the Meeting- House, and flung
the Door after her violently, to the amazement of the
Congregation. She was afterwards seen by some in their
Fits, who said, 0 Goodw. C. I did not think to see you here /
(and being at their Red Bread and drink) said to her, Is
this a time to receive the Sacrament, you ran away on the
Lord's-Day, and scorned to receive it in the Meeting-
House^ and, Is this a time to receive it ? I wonder at you!
This is the sum of what I either saw my self, or did receive
Information from persons of undoubted Reputation and
Credit.

REMARKS OF THINGS MOEE THAN ORDINARY ABOUT THE
AFFLICTED PERSONS.

1. They are in their Fits tempted to be Witches, are
shewed the List of the Names of others, and are tortured
because they will not yeild to Subscribe, or meddle with, or
touch the BOOK, and are promised to have present Relief
if they would do it.

2. They did in the Assembly mutually Cure each other,
even with a Touch of their Hand, when Strangled, and
otherwise Tortured ; and would endeavour to get to their
Afflicted, to relieve them.

3. They did also foretel when anothers Fit was a-coming,
and would say, Look to her! she will have a Fit presently,
which fell out accordingly, as many can bear witness, that
heard and saw it.

4. That at the same time, when the Accused Person
was present, the Afflicted Persons saw her Likeness in

212 TEE EXAMINATION OF THE

other places of the Meeting-House, sucking her Familiar,
sometimes in one place and posture, and sometimes in an-
other.

5. That their Motions in their Fits are Preternatural,
both as to the manner, which is so strange as a well person
could not Screw their Body into ; and as to the violence
also it is preternatural, being much beyond the Ordinary
force of the same person when they are in their right
mind.

6. The eyes of some of them in their fits are exceeding
fast closed, and if you ask a question they can give no
answer, and I do believe they cannot hear at that time, yet
do they plainely converse with the Appearances, as if they
did discourse with real persons.

7. They are utterly pressed against any persons Pray-
ing with them, and told by the Appearances, they shall
not go to Prayer, so Tho. Putman's wife was told^ /
should not Pray; but she said, / should: and after I had
done, reasoned with the Appearance, Did not I say he should
go to Prayer?

8. The forementioned Mary W. being a little better at
ease, the Afflicted persons said, she had signed the Book ;
and that was the reason she was better. Told me by
Edward Putman.

REMAEKS CONCERNING THE ACCUSED.

1 . For introduction to the discoveiy of those that afflicted
them, It is reported Mr. Parris's Indian Man, and Woman,
made a Cake of Eye Meal, and the Childrens water,

NEW-ENGLAND WITCHES. 213

baked it in the Ashes, and gave it to a Dog, since which
they have discovered, and seen particular persons hurting
of them.

2. In Time of Examination, they seemed little affected,
though all the Spectators were much grieved to see it.

3. Natural Actions in them produced Preternatural
actions in the Afflicted, so that they are their own Image
without any Poppits of Wax or otherwise.

4. That they are accused to have a Company about 23
or 24 and they did Muster in Armes, as it seemed to the
Afflicted Persons.

5. Since they were confined, the Persons have not been
so much Afflicted with their appearing to them, Biteing or
Pinching of them, &c. .

6. They are reported by the Afflicted Persons to keep
dayes of Fast and dayes of Thanksgiving, and Sacraments;
Satan endeavours to Transforme himself to an Angel of
Light, and to make his Kingdom and Administrations to
resemble those of our Lord Jesus Christ.

7. Satan Rages Principally amongst the Visible Sub-
jects of Christ's Kingdom and makes use (at least in
appearance) of some of them to Afflict others ; that
Christ's Kingdom rtiay be divided against it self, and so be
weakened.

8. Several things used in England at Tryal of Witches,
to the Number of 14 or 15 which are wont to pass instead
of, or in Concurrence with Witnesses, at least 6 or 7 of them
are found in these accused : see Keebles Statutes.

9. Some of the most solid Afflicted Persons do affirme
the same things concerning seeing the accused out of their
Fitts as well as in them.

214 THE EXAMINATION OF THE

10. The Witches had a Fast, and told one of the
Afflicted Girles, she must not Eat, because it was
Fast Day, she said, she would: they told her they
would Choake her then ; which when she did eat, was en-
deavoured.

A FURTHER ACCOUNT OF THE TRYALS OF

THE NEW-ENGLAND WITCHES, SENT IN A LETTER FROM
THENCE, TO A GENTLEMAN IN LONDON.

HERE were in Salem, June 10, 1692, about 40 per-
sons that were afflicted with horrible torments by
Evil Spirits, and the afflicted have accused 60 or 70 as
Witches, for that they have Spectral appearances of them,
tho the Persons are absent when they are tormented.
When these Witches were Tryed, several of them con-
fessed a contract with the Devil, by signing his Book, and
did express much sorrow for the same, declaring also their
Confederate Witches, and said the Tempters of them desired
'em to sign the Devils Book, who tormented them till they
did it. There were at the time of Examination, before
many hundreds of Witnesses, strange Pranks play'd ; such
as the taking Pins out of the Clothes of the afflicted, and
thrusting them into their flesh, many of which were taken
out again by the Judges own hands. Thorns also in like
kind were thrust into their flesh ; the accusers were some"
times struck dumb, deaf, blind, and sometimes lay as if
they were dead for a while, and all foreseen and declared
by the afflicted just before 't was done. Of the afflicted

NEW-ENGLAND WITCHES. 215

there were two Girls, about 12 or 13 years of age, who
saw all that was done, and were therefore called the
Visionary Girls; they would say, Now he, or she, or they,
are going to bite or pinch the Indian; and all there present
in Court saw the visible marks on the Indians arms ;
they would also cry out, Now look, look, they are going to
bind such an ones Legs, and all present saw the same per-
son spoken of, fall with her Legs twisted in an extra-
ordinary manner; Now say they, we shall all fall, and
immediately 7 or 8 of the afflicted fell down, with terrible
shrieks and Out-cry 's: at the time when one of the
Witches was sentenced, and pinnion'd with a Cord, at the
same time was the afflicted Indian Servant going home,
(being about 2 or 3 miles out of town,) and had both his
Wrists at the same instant bound about with a like Cord,
in the same manner as she was when she was sentenc'd,
but with that violence, that the Cord entred into his flesh,

not to be untied, nor hardly cut Many Murders are

suppos'd to be in this way committed ; for these Girls, and
others of the afflicted, say, they see Coffins, and bodies in
Shrowds, rising up, and looking on the accused, crying,

Vengeance, Vengeance on the Murderers Many other

strange things were transacted before the Court in the time
of their Examination ; and especially one thing which I
had like to have forgot, which is this, One of the accus'd,
whilst the rest were under Examination, was drawn up by
a Rope to the Roof of the house where he was, and would
have been choak'd in all probability, had not the Rope been
presently cut ; the Rope hung at the Roof by some in-
visible tye, for there was no hole where it went up ; but

216 THE EXAMINATION OF THE

after it was cut the remainder of it was found in the
Chamber just above, lying by the very place where it hung
down.

In December 1692, the Court sate again at Salem in
New-England, and cleared about 40 persons suspected for
Witches, and Condemned three. The Evidence against
these three was the same as formerly, so the Warrant for
their Execution was sent, and the Graves digged for the
said three, and for about five more that had been Con-
demned at Salem formerly, but were Reprieved by the
Governour.

In the beginning of February 1693, the Court sate at
Charles-Town where the Judge exprest himself to this
effect.

That who it was that obstructed the Execution of Justice,
or kindred those good proceedings they had made, he knew
not, but thereby the Kingdom of Satan was advanced, &c.
and the Lord have mercy on this Country : and so declined

coming any more into Court. In hig absence Mr. D

sate as Chief Judge 3 several days, in which time 5 or 6
were clear'd by Proclamation, and almost as many by Trial;
so that all are acquitted.

The most remarkable was an Old Woman named
Dayton, of whom it was said, If any in the World were a
Witch, she was one, and had been so accounted 30 years.
I had the Curiosity to see her tried ; she was a decrepid
Woman of about 80 years of age, and did not use many
words in her own defence. She was accused by about 30
Witnesses ; but the matter alledged against her was such
as needed little apology, on her part not one passionate

NEW-ENGLAND WITCHES. 217

word, or immoral action, or evil, was then objected against
her for .20 years past, only strange accidents falling out,
after some Christian admonition given by her, as saying,
God would not prosper them, if they wrong1 d the Widow.
Upon the whole, there was not proved against her any
thing worthy of Reproof, or just admonition, much less so
heinous a Charge.

So that by the Goodness of God we are once more out
of present danger of this Hobgoblin Monster ; the stand-
ing Evidence used at Salem were called, but did not
appear.

There were others also at Charles-town brought upon
their Tryals, who had formerly confess'd themselves to be
Witches; but upon their tryals deny'd it, and were all
clear'd ; So that at present there is no further prosecution
of any.

CASES of CONSCIENCE

Concerning

Evil Spirits

. Perfonating MEN;

WITCHCRAFTS,

•i

Infallible Proofs of Guilt in fuch as are
Acccfed with that CRIME.

All Confidered according to the Scriptures, Hiftory,
Experience, and the Judgment of many Learned
MEN.

By Increafe Mather, Prefident of Harvard Colledge at Cam-
bridge, and Teacher of a Church at Bofion in New England.

P R O V. xxii. xxi.

That thou might eft Anfiver the Words of Truth, to them

that fend unto thee.

Efficient D<?mones, ut qua non funt,Jic tamen, quaji Jint, confplcienda
bominibus exhibeani. Laflar.tius Lib. a. Injlit. Cap. 15. Diabolus
Confu/itur, cum m mtdih utlmur allquid Ccgnojcendi, qu^f a Diabolo
Junt introduttd. Ames Caf. Conf. L. 4. Cap. 23.

Printed at Bojion, and Re-printed at London, for 3of)n Dunfon,
at the Ra'uen in the Poultrey. 1693.

CHRISTIAN READER.

SO Odious and Abominable is the Name of a Witch, to
the Civilized, much more the Religious part of Man-
kind, that it is apt to grow up into a Scandal for any, so

suspecting, or too precipitant Judging of Persons on this
account. But certainly, the more execrable the Crime ve,
the more critical care is to be used in the exposing of the
Names, Liberties, and Lives of Men (especially of a Godly
Conversation) to the imputation of it. The awful hand of
God now upon us, in letting loose of evil Angels among us
to perpetrate such horrid Mischiefs, and suffering ofllelTs
Instruments to do such fearful things as have been scarce
heard of; hath put serious persons into deep Musings,
and upon curious Enquiries what is to be done for the
detecting and defeating of this tremendous design of the
grand Adversary: And, tho' all that fear God are agreed,
That no evil is to be done, that good may come of it ; yet
hath the Devil obtained not a little of his design, in the
divisions of Reuben, about the application of this Rule.
That there are Devils and Witches, the Scripture asserts,

222 TO THE READER.

and experience confirms, That they are common enemies
of Mankind, and set upon mischief] is not to be doubted:
That the Devil can (by Divine Permission) and often doth
vex men in Body and Estate, without the Instrumentality
of Witches, is undeniable: That he often hath, and delights
to have the concurrence of Witches, and their consent in
harming men, is consonant to his native Malice to Many
and too lamentably exemplified: That Witches, when de-
tected and convinced, ought to be exterminated and cut off,
we, have God's warrant for, Exod. 22. 18. Only the same
God who hath said, thou shalt not suffer a Witch to live ;
hath also said, at the Mouth of two Witnesses, or three
Witnesses shall he that is worthy of Death, be put to
Death : But at the Mouth of one Witness, he shall not be
put to Death, Deut. 17. 6. Much debate is made about
what is sufficient Conviction, and some have (in their Zeal)
supposed that a less clear evidence ought to pass in this
than in other Cases, supposing that else it will be hard (if
possible) to bring such to condign Punishment, by reason
of the close conveyances that there are between the Devil
and Witches; but this a very dangerous and unjustifi-
able tenet. Men serve God in doing their Duty, he never
intended that all persons guilty of Capital Crimes should
be discovered and punished by men in this Life, though
they be never so curious in searching after Iniquity. It
is therefore exceeding necessary that in such a day as this,
men be informed what is Evidence and what is not. It
concerns men in point of Charity ; for the? the most shin-
ing Professor may be secretly a most abominable Sinner,
yet till he be detected, our Charity is bound to Judge

TO THE READER. 223

according to what appears : and notwithstanding that a
clear evidence must determine a case ; yet presumptions
must be weighed against presumptions, and Charity is not
to be forgone as long as it has the most preponderating on
its side. And it is of no less necessity in point of Justice;
there are not only Testimonies required by God, which are
to be credited according to the Rules given in his Word
referring to witnesses: But there is also an Evidence sup-
posed to be in the Testimony, which is throughly to be
weighed, and if it do not infallibly prove the Crime against
the person accused, it ought not to determine him guilty of
it; for so a righteous Man may be Condemned unjustly.
In the case of Witchcrafts we know that the Devil is the
immediate Agent in the Mischief done, the consent or com-
pact of the PFitch is the thing to be Demonstrated.

Among many Arguments to evince this, that ivhich is
most under present debate, is that which refers to some-
thing vulgarly called Spectre Evidence, and a certain sort
of Ordeal or tryal by the sight and touch. The principal
Plea to justifie the convictive Evidence in these, is fetcht
from the Consideration of the Wisdom and Righteousness
of God in Governing the World, which they suppose would
fail, if such things were permitted to befal an innocent
person: but it is certain, that too resolute conclusions
drawn from hence, are bold usurpations upon spotless
Sovereignty : and tho} some things if suffered to be con-
mon, would subvert this Government, and disband, yearuine
Humane Society ; yet God doth sometimes suffer such
things to evene, that we may thereby know how much we
are beholden to him, for that restraint which he lays upon

224 TO THE READEE.

the Infernal Spirits, who would else reduce a World into
a Chaos. That the Resolutions of such Cases as these is
proper for the Servants of Christ in the Ministry cannot
be denied; the seasonableness of doing it now, will be
justified by the Consideration of the necessity there is at
this time of a right Information of men's Judgments
about these things, and the danger of their being misin-
formed.

The Reverend, Learned, and Judicious Author of the
ensuing Cases, is too well known to need our Commenda-
tion: All that we are concerned in, is to assert our hearty
Consent to, and Concurrence with the substance of what is
contained in the following Discourse : And, with our
hearty Request to God, that he would discover the depths
of this Hellish Design; direct in the whole management of
this Affair ; prevent the taking any wrong steps in this
dark way ; and that he would in particular Bless tliese
faithful Endeavours of his Servant to that end, we Com-
mend it and you to his Divine Benediction.

William Hubbard. John Baily.

Samuel Phillips. Jabez Fox.

Charles Morton. Joseph Gerrish.

James AJlen. Samuel Angier.

Michael "Wigglesworth. John Wise.

Samuel Whiting, Sen. Joseph Capen.

Samuel Willard. Nehemiah Walter.

CASES OF CONSCIENCE CONCERNING
WITCHCRAFTS.

E First Case that I am desired to express
my Judgment in, is this, Whether it is not
Possible for the Devil to impose on the
imagination of Persons Bewitched, and to
cause them to Believe that an Innocent, yea that a Pious
person does torment them, when the Devil himself doth
it ; or whether Satan may not appear in the Shape of an
Innocent and Pious, as well as of a Nocent and Wicked
Person, to Afflict such as suffer by Diabolical Molestations?
The Answer to the Question must be Affirmative ; Let
the following Arguments be duely weighed in the Ballance
of the Sanctuary.

Argu. 1. There are several Scriptures from which we
may infer the Possibility of what is Affirmed.

1. We find that the Devil by the Instigation of the
Witch at Endor appeared in the Likeness of the Prophet
Samuel. I am not ignorant that some have asserted that,
which, if it were proved, would evert this Argument, viz.
that it was the true and not a delusive Samuel which the
Witch brought to converse with Saul. Of this Opinion
Q

226 CASES OF CONSCIENCE

are some of the Jewish Rabbles1 and some Christian
Doctors2 and many late Popish Authors3 amongst whom
Cornel, a Lapide is most elaborate. But that it was a
Daemon representing Samuel has been evinced by learned
and Orthodox Writers : especially *Peter Martyr, 5Baldu-
inus QLavater, and our incomparable John Rainolde. I
shall not here insist on the clearing of that, especially con-
sidering, that elsewhere I have done it : only let me add,
that the Witch said to Saul, I see Elohim, i.e. A God ;
(for the whole Context shows, that a single Person is in-
tended) Ascending out of the Earth. 1 Sam. 28. 13.
The Devil would be Worshipped as a God, and Saul now,
that he was become a Necromancer, must bow himself to
him. Moreover, had it been the true Samuel from Heaven
reprehending Saul, there is great Reason to believe, that
he would not only have reproved him for his sin, in not
executing Judgment on the AmaleJcites; as in Ver. 18.
But for his Wickedness in consulting with Familiar Spirits :
For which Sin it was in special that he died. 2 Chron. 10.
13. But in as much as there is not one word to testify
against that Abomination, we may conclude that it was not
real Samuel that appeared to Saul : and if it were the
Devil in his likeness, the Argument seems very strong,
that if the Devil may appear in the form of a Saint in
Glory, much more is it possible for him to put on the like-
ness of the most Pious and Innocent Saint on Earth. There

1 R. Sactias. R. Eleazer Athias. Lyranus. Sic & Josephus.

2 Ambrose, Hierom, Basil, Nazianzen.

3 Thomas, Tostatus, Saurez. Cajaten, InEcclesia, Chap. 46. 22, 23.

4 In Locum. 5 In 2 Cor. 11, 14, Pag. 555.
6 De Spectris, Cap. 7.

CONCERNING WITCHCRAFTS. 227

are, who acknowledge that a Dcemon may appear in the
shape of a Godly Person, But not as doing Evil. Wherffls
the Devil in Samuel's likeness told a pernicious Lye, when
he said, Thou hath disquieted me. It was not in the Power
of Saul, nor of all the Devils in Hell, to disquiet a Soul in
Heaven, where Samuel had been for two years before this
Apparition. Nor did the Spectre speak true, when he said,
Thou and thy Sons shall be with me : Tho' Saul himself at
his Death went to be with the Devil, his Son Jonathan did
not so. Besides, (which suits with the matter in hand) the
Devil in Samuels shape confirmed Necromancy and Cursed
Witchery. He that can in the likeness of Saints encourage
Witches to Familiarity with Hell, may possibly in the
likeness of a Saint afflict a Bewitched Person. But this
we see from Scripture, Satan may be permitted to do.

And whereas it is objected, that the Devil may appear
indeed in the form of Dead Persons, but that he cannot re-
present such as are living ; The contrary is manifest. No
question had Saul said to the Witch, bring me David who
was then living, she could as easily have shown living David
as dead Samuel, as easily as that great Conjurer of whom
^JVierus speaks, brought the appearance of Hector and
Achilles, and after that of David before the Emperour
Maximilian.

And that evil Angels have sometimes appeared in the
likeness of living absent persons, is a thing abundantly
confirmed by History.

2 'Austin tells us of one that went for resolution in some
intricate Questions to a Philosopher, of whom he could get
1 Prcestig. Dcemon. Lib. 1. C. 16. 2 De C. D. 1. 18.

228 CASES OF CONSCIENCE

no Answer; but in the Night the Philosopher comes to him,
and resolves all his Doubts. Not long after, he demanded
the reason why he could not answer him in the Day as
well as in the Night ; The Philosopher professed he was
not with him in the Night, only acknowledged that he
dreamed of his having such conversation of his Friend,
but he was all the time at home, and asleep. Paulus and
Palladius did both of them profess to Austin, that one in
his shape, had divers times, and in divers places appeared
to them : lThyreus mentions several Apparitions of absent
living persons, which happened in his time, and which he
had the certain knowledge of. A Man that is in one place
cannot (Autopro&opos) at the same time be in another. It
remains then that such Spectres are Prodigious and Super-
natural, and not without Diabolical Operation. It has been
Controverted among Learned Men, whether innocent
Persons may not by the malice and deluding Power of the
Devil be represented as present amongst Witches at their
dark Assemblies. The mentioned Thyreus says, that the
Devil may, and often does represent the forms of Innocent
Persons out of those Conventions, and that there is no
Question to be made of it, but as to his natural Power and
Art he is able to make their shapes appear amongst his
own Servants, but he supposeth the Providence of God will
not suffer such an Injury to be done to an Innocent Person.
With him 2Delrio, and Spineus concur. But Cumanus in
his Lucerna Inquisitorium (I Book which I have not yet
seen) defends the Affirmative in this Question. Bins

1 De Appar. Spirituum, Lib. 2. Cap. 7.

2 Misq. Magicar. Lib. 2. .C. 12.

CONCERNING WITCHCRAFTS. 229

Fieldius in his Treatise, concerning the Confession of
Witches, inclines to the Negative, only Jhe acknowledges
Die extraordinaria Permissione posse Innocences sic repre-
sentari. And he that shall assert, that Great and Holy
God never did nor ever will permit the Devil thus far to
abuse an Innocent Person, affirms more than he is able to
prove. The story of Germanus his discovering a Diabolical
illusion of this nature, concerning a great number of Persons
that seemed to be at a Feast when they were really at
home and asleep, is mentioned by many Authors. But the
particulars insisted on, do sufficiently evince the Truth of
what we assert, viz. That the Devil may by Divine Per-
mission appear in the shape of Innocent and Pious Persons.
Nevertheless, It is evident from another Scripture, viz.
that in 2 Cor. 11. 14. For. Satan himself is transformed
into an Angel of Light. He seems to be what he is not,
and makes others seem to be what they are not. He
represents evil men as good, and good men as evil. The
Angels of Heaven, (who are the Angels of Light) love
Truth and Righteousness, the Devil will seem to do so too ;
and does therefore sometimes lay before men excellent
good Principles and exhort them (as he did Theodore
Maillit) to practise many things, which by the Law of
Righteousness they are obliged unto, and hereby he does
more effectually deceive. Is it not strange, that he has
sometimes intimated to his most devoted servants, that if
they would have familiar Conversation with him, they must
be careful to keep themselves from enormous Sins, and
pray constantly for Divine Protection? But so has he

1 De Confcs. Say. pag. 191.

230 CASES OF CONSCIENCE

transformed himself into an Angel of Light, as lBoissardm
sheweth. He has frequently appeared to Men pretending
to be a good Angel, so to Anatolius of old ; and the late
instance of 2Dr. Dee and Kellet are famously known. How
many deluded Enthusiasts both in former and latter times
have been imposed on by Satans appearing visibly to them,
pretending to be a good Angel. And moreover, he may
be said to transform himself into an Angel of Light, because
of his appearing in the Form of Holy Men, who are the
Children of Light, yea in the shape and habit of Eminent
Ministers of God. So did he appear to Mr. Earl of Colches-
ter in the likeness of Mr. Liddal an Holy Man of God, and
to the Turkish Chaous Baptized at London, Anno 1658.
pretending to be Mr. Dury an Excellent Minister of Christ.
And how often has he pretended to be the Apostle Paul or
Peter or some other celebrated Saint? Ecclesiastical His-
tories abound with Instances of this nature. Yea, some-
times he has transfigured himself into the Form of Christ.
It is reported that he appeared to 3St. Martin Gloriously
arrayed, as if he had been Christ. So likewise to *Secun-
dellus, and to another Saint, who suspecting it was Satan,
transforming himself into an Angel of Light had this expres-
sion, If I may see Christ in Heaven it is enough, I desire
not to see him in this World ; whereupon the Spectre van-
ished. It has been related of Luther, that after he had been
Fasting and Praying in his Study, the Devil came pretend-

1 De secretis mag. p. 31. see also Lavater de Spect. Lib. 2. Cap. 18.

2 Dr. Casaubon : of Spirits.

3 Svlpitius Severus in vita Martini.

4 Gfuaccius, compend. malefic, p. 342.

CONCERNING WITCHCRAFTS. 231

ing to be Christ, but Luther saying, away thou co-nfounded
Devil, I acknowledge no Christ but what is in my Bible,
nothing more was seen. Thus then the Devil is able (by
Divine Permission) to change himself into what form or
figure he pleaseth,

Omnia transformat sese in miracula rerum.

A Third Scripture to our purpose is that, in Rev. 12. 10.
where the Devil is called the Accuser of the Brethren.
Such is the malice and impudence of the Devil, as that he
does accuse good Men, and that before God, and that not
only of such Faults as they really are guilty of, he accused
Joshua with his filthy Garments, when through his Indul-
gence some of his Family had transgressed by unlawful
Marriages, Zach. 3. 23. with Ezra 10. 18. but also with
such Crimes, as they are altogether free from. He repre-
sented the Primitive Christians as the vilest of men, and
as if at their Meetings they did commit the most nefandous
Villanies that ever were known ; and that not only Inno-
cent, but Eminently Pious Persons should thro' the malice
of the Devil be accused with the Crime of Witchcraft, is no
new thing. Such an Affliction did the Lord see meet to
exercise the great Athanasius with,1 only the Divine Pro-
vidence did wonderfully vindicate him from that as well as
from some other foul Aspersions. The Waldenses (altho'
the Scriptures call them Saints, Rev. 13. 7.) have been
traduced by Satan and by the World as horrible Witches ; so
have others in other places, only because they have done ex-
traordinary things by their Prayers : It is by many Authors

1 Binsfidd, de C&nfes. Sag. p. 187.

232 CASES OF CONSCIENCE

related, that a City in France was molested with a Diabolical
Spectre, which the People were wont to call Hugon; near
that place a number of Protestants were wont to meet to
serve God, whence the Professors of the true reformed
Pteligion were nic-named Hugonots, by the Papists, who
designed to render them before the World, as the Servants
and Worshippers of ih&tDcemon, that went under the name
of Hugon, And how often have I read in Boobs written
by Jesuits, that Luther was a Wizard, and that he did
himself confess that he had familiarity with Satan ! Most
impudent Untruths ! nor are these things to be wondered
at, since the Holy Son of God himself was reputed a Magi-
cian, and one that had Familiarity with the greatest of
Devils. The Blaspheming Pharisees said, he casts out the
Devils thro' the Prince of Devils, Matth. 9. 34. There is
then not the best Saint on Earth (Man or Woman) that
can assure themselves that the Devil shall not cast such an
Imputation upon them. It is enough for the Disciple that
he be as his Master, and the Servant as his Lord : If they
have called the Master of the House Beelzebub, how much
more them of his Household, Matth. 10. 25. It is not for
men to determine how far the Holy God may permit the
wicked one to proceed in his Accusations. The sacred
story of Job giveth us to understand, that the Lord whose
ways are past finding out, does for wise and holy Ends
suffer Satan by immediate Operation, (and consequently by
Witchcraft) greatly to afflict innocent Persons, as in their
Bodies and Estates, so in their Reputations. I shall men-
tion but one Scripture more to confirm the Truth in hand :
It is that in Eccles. 9. 2, 3. where it is said, All things come

CONCERNING WITCHCRAFTS. 233

alike to all, there is one event to the Righteous and to the
Wicked, as is the Good, so is the Sinner, this is an evil
amongst all things under the Sun, that there is one Event
happeneth to all. And in Secies. 7. 15. 'tis said, There is
a just man that perisheth in his Righteousness.

From hence we infer, that there is no outward Affliction
whatsoever but may befal a good Man ; now to be repre-
sented by Satan as a Tormentor of Bewitched or Possessed
Persons, is a sore Affliction to a good man. To be tormented
by Satan is a sore Affliction, yet nothing but what befel Job,
and a Daughter of Abraham, whom we read of in the
Gospel : To be represented by Satan as tormenting others,
is an Affliction like the former ; the Lord may bring such
extraordinary Temptations on his own Children, to afflict
and humble them, for some Sin they have been guilty of
before him. A most wicked Person in St. Ives, got a
Knife, and went with it to a Ministers House, designing to
stab him, but was disappointed; afterwards Conscience
being awakened, the Devil appears to this Person in the
Shape of that Minister, with a Knife in his hand exhorting
to Self-murder : Was not here a Punishment suitable to
the Sin which that Person had been guilty of? Perhaps
some of those whom Satan has represented as committing
Witchcrafts, have been tampering with some foolish and
wicked Sorceries, iiho' not to that degree, which is Criminal
and Capital by the Laws both of God and Men ; for this
Satan may be permitted so to scourge them ; or it may be,
they have misrepresented and abused others, for which cause
the Holy God may justly give Satan leave falsely to repre-
sent them.

234 CASES OF CONSCIENCE

Have we not known some that have bitterly censured
all that have been complained of by bewitched Persons,
saying it was impossible they should not be guilty ; soon
upon which themselves or some near Relations of theirs,
have been to the lasting Infamy of their Families, accused
after the same manner, and Personated by the Devil ! Such
tremendous Rebukes on a few, should make all men to be
careful how they joyn with Satan in Condemning the In-
nocent.

Arg. 2. Because it is possible for the Devil in the Shape
of an innocent Person to do other mischiefs. As for those
who acknowledge that Satan may personate a pious Person,
but not to do mischief, their Opinion has been confuted by
more than a few unhappy Instances. Mr. Clark1 speaks of
a Man that had been an Atheist, or a Sadduce, not believ-
ing that there are any Devils or any (to us) invisible World ;
this Man was converted, but as a Punishment for his Infi-
delity, evil Angels did often appear to him in the Shape of
his most intimate Friends, and would sometimes seduce
him into great Inconveniences. It has been elsewhere, and
but now noted, that a Daemon in the shape of excellent Mr.
Dury appeared to the Turkish Chaos, Anno 1658. to dis-
gwade him from prosecuting his desires of Baptism into the
Name of Christ : Also to Mr. Earle in the likeness of his
Friends, to discourage him from doing things lawful and
good. A multitude of Jews were once deluded by a Per-
son pretending to be Moses from Heaven, and that if they
would follow him they should pass safe through the Sea

1 Examples, VoL 1. p. 510.

CONCERNING WITCHCRAFTS. 235

(as did their Fathers of old through the Red Sea) whereby
great numbers of them were deceived and perished in the
Waters. 1Learned and judicious Men have concluded that
this Moses Creensis was nDcemon, transforming himself into
Moses : And that the Devil has frequently appeared2 in
the shape of famous Persons to the end that he might seduce
Men into Idolatry, (a Sin equal to that of Witchcraft) no
Man that has made it his Concern to enquire into things of
this nature can be ignorant. Many examples of this kind
are collected by Mr. Bromhall in his Treatise of Spectres,
and the cunning Devil, to strengthen Men in their worship-
ping of Saints departed: And by Mr. Bovet in his Pande-
monium. It is credibly reported that the Devil in the like-
ness of a faithful Minister (as St. Ives before mentioned,
near Boston in Lincolnshire) came to one that was in
trouble of Mind, telling her the longer she lived, the worse
it would be for her ; and therefore advising her to Self-
murder : An Eminent person still living had the account of
this matter from Mr. Cotton (the famous Teacher of both
Bostons.) He was well acquainted with that Minister,
who related to him the whole Story, with all the Circum-
stances of it : For Mr. Gotten was so affected with the
Report, as to take a Journey on purpose to the Town
where this happened, that so he might obtain a satisfactory
account about it, which he did. Some Authors say, that a
Daemon appeared hi the form of Sylvanus (Hierom's
Friend) attempting a dishonest thing, the Devil thereby
designing to blast the Reputation of a famous Bishop. I

1 Socrate's Hist, p. 7. C. 38.

8 Lege Vittalpond dc Moyia, &c. L. 2. Cap. 27.

236 CASES OF CONSCIENCE

have in another Book mentioned that celebrated Instance
concerning an honest Citizen in Zurich (the Metropolis of
Helvetia} in whose shape the Devil appeared, committing
an abominable Fact (not fit to be named) very early in the
Morning, seen by the Prefect of the City, and his Servant ;
they were amazed to behold a Man of good Esteem for his
Conversation, perpetrating a thing so vile and abominable ;
but going from the Spectre in the Field, to the Citizen's
House in the Town, they found him at home, and in his
Bed, nor had he been abroad that Morning, which con-
vinced them, that what they saw was an Illusion of the
Devil : This passage is mentioned as a thing known and
certain by Lavater in his Treatise of Spectres,1 who was a
most learned and judicious Preacher in that City. Our
Juel saith of him, that he must ingeniously confess, that he
never understood Solomon's Proverbs until Lavater ex-
pounded them to him : That Book of his De Spectris hath
been published in Latin, High and Low Dutch, French,
Italian. The learned Zanchy* speaks highly of it, pro-
fessing that he had read it both with Pleasure and Profit.
Voetius* takes notice of that passage which we have
quoted out of Lavater as a thing memorable.

Some Popish Authors argue, That the Devil cannot
personate an innocent Man as doing an act of Witchcraft,
because then he might as well represent them as commit-
ting Theft, Murder, &c. And if so, there would be no
living in the World : But I turn the Argument against
them, he may (as the mentioned Instances prove) personate

Part 1. Chap. 19. Pag. 8. 2 Epistol 2.

In Disput. d e Magia. P. 575.

CONCERNING WITCHCRAFTS. 237

honest Men as doing other Evils ; and no solid Reason can
be given why he may not as well personate them under the
Notion of Witches, as under the Notion of Thieves, Mur-
derers, and Idolaters : As for the Objection, that then there
would be no living in the World, we shall consider it under
the next Argument.

Arg. 3. If Satan may not represent one that is not a
Covenant Servant of his, as afflicting those that are
bewitched or possessed, then it is either because he wants
Will, or Power to do this, or because God will never per-
mit him thus to do. No man but a Sadduce doubts of the
ill will of Devils ; nothing is more pleasing to the Malice
of those wicked Spirits than to see Innocency wronged :
And the Power of the Enemy is such, as that having once
obtained a Divine Concession to use his Art, he can do
this and much more than this amounts unto : We know by
Scripture-Revelation, that the Sorcerers of Egypt caused
many untrue and delusive Representations before Pharaoh
and his Servants. Exod. 7. 11, 22. and 8. 7. And we
read of the working of Satan in all Power and Signs, and
lying Wonders. 2 Thess. 2. 9.- His Heart is beyond what
the wisest of Men may pretend unto : He has perfect skill
in Opticks, and can therefore cause that to be in visible to one,
which is not so to another, and things also to appear far
otherwise then they are : He has likewise the Art of Lim-
ning in the Perfection of it, and knows what may be done
by Colours. It is an odd passage2 which I find in the

1 In Mr. Coupers Mystery of Witchcraft, Pag. 174, 175.

2 Acta Eruditorum, Anno 1690. Pag. 113.

238 CASES OF CONSCIENCE

A eta Eruditorum, printed by Lipsick, that about Thirty-
two Years ago an indigent Merchant in France was in-
structed by a Dcemon, that with Water of Borax he might
colour Taffities, so as to cause them to glister and look very
gay : He searcheth into the Nature, Causes, and Reasons
of things, whereby he is able to produce wonderful effects.
So that if he does not form the Shape of an innocent Per-
son as afflicting others, it is not from want of either will or
power. They that affirm, that God never did, nor ever
will permit him thus to do, alledge that it is inconsistent
with the Righteousness and Providence of God, in govern-
ing Humane Affairs thus to suffer Men to be imposed on :
It must be acknowledged1 that the Divine Providence has
taken care, that the greatest part of Mankind shall not be
left to unavoidable Deception, so as to be always abused by
the mischievous Agents of Hell, in the Objects of plain
Sence : But yet it is not for sinful and silly Mortals to pre-
scribe Rules to the most High in his Government of the
World, or to direct him how far he may permit Satan to
use his power : I am apt to think that there are some
amongst us, who if they had lived in JoUs days, and seen
the Devil tormenting of him, and heard him complaining
of being scared with Dreams, and terrified with Night-
visions, they would have joined with his uncharitable Friends
in censuring him as a most guilty Person : But we should
consider, that the most high God doth sometimes deal with
Men in a way of absolute Sovereignty, performing the thing
which is appointed for them, and many such things are with
him : If he does destroy the perfect with the wicked, and

1 In Mr. Glanvtt's Philosophical Considerations.

CONCERNING WITCHCRAFTS. 239

laugh at the tryal of the innocent, (Job 9. 22, 23). Who
shall enter into his Councils ! who has given him a Charge
over the Earth ! or who has disposed the whole World ! Men
are not able to give an account of his ordinary Works, much
less of his secret Counsels, and the dark Dispensations of his
Providence : They do but darken Counsel by Words with-
out Knowledge when they undertake it : If we are not able
to see how this or that can stand with the Righteousness
of him that governs the World, shall we say that the
Almighty will pervert Judgment ? or that he that governs
the Earth hateth Right 1 Shall we condemn him that is
most jvist 1 But whereas 'tis objected ; where is Providence 1
And how shall men live on the Earth, if the Devil may be
permitted to use such Power ? I demand, where was Provi-
dence, when Satan had Power to cause Sons of Belial to
lye and swear away the Life of innocent Naboth, layi»g
such Crimes to his charge as he was never guilty of? And
what an Hour of Darkness was it? How far was the
Power of Hell permitted to prevail, when Christ the Son of
God was accused, condemned, and hanged for a Crime
that he never was guilty of? That was the strangest
Providence that has happened since the World began, and
yet in the Issue the most glorious : We must therefore
distinguish between what does ordinarily come to pass by
the Providence of God, and things which are extraordinary :
It is not an usual thing for a Naboth to have his Life taken
from him by false Accusations, or for an Atfianasius or a
Susanna to be charged, and perhaps brought before Courts
of Judicature for Crimes of which they were altogether
innocent.

240 CASES OF CONSCIENCE

But if we therefore conclude, that such a thing as this
can never happen in the World, we shall offend against the
Generation of the Just : It is not ordinary for Devils to be
permitted to reveal the secret Sins of Men : yet this has
been done more than once or twice : Nor is it ordinary for
Daemons to steal Money out of Mens Pockets, and Purses,
or Wine and Cyder out of their Cellars. Yet some such
Instances have there been amongst our selves. It is not
usual for Providence to permit the Devil to come from Hell
and to throw Fire on the tops of Houses, and to cause a
whole Town to be burnt to Ashes thereby; there would (it
must be confessed) be no living in the World, if evil Angels
should be permitted to do thus when they had a mind to it ;
nevertheless, Authors worthy of Credit, tell us, that this
has sometimes happened. Both Erasmus1 and Cardanas
write that the Town of Schiltach in Germany, was in the
Month of April, 1533. set on fire by a Devil, and burnt to
the ground in an hour's space: 'Tis also reported by
Sigibert, Aventinus and others, that some Cottages and
Barns in a Town called Bingus were fired by a wicked
Genius ; that spiteful Daemon said it was for the Impieties
of such a Man whom he named, that he was sent to molest
them : The poor Man to satisfie his Neighbours, who were
ready to Stone him, carried an hot Iron in his Hand, but
receiving no hurt thereby, he was judged to be innocent.
It is not ordinary for a Devil upon the dying Curse of a
Servant, to have a Commission from Heaven to tear and
torment a bloody cruel Master; yet such a thing may
possibly come to pass. There is a fearful Story to tins
1 De sultilitate. Lib. 29.

CONCERNING WITCHCRAFTS. 241

purpose, in the account of the Bitcuneers of America,1
wherein my Author relates that a Servant, who was Spirited
or Kidnapt (as they call it) into America, falling into the
Hands of a Tyrannical Master, he ran away from him, but
being taken and brought back, the hard-hearted Tyrant
lashed him on his naked Back, until his Body ran in an
entire stream of Blood ; to make the Torment of this miser-
able Creature intolerable, he anointed his wounds with
Juice of Lemon mingled with Salt and Pepper, being
ground small together, with which torture the miserable
Wretch gave up the Ghost, with these dying Words, /
beseech the Almighty God, Creator of Heaven and Earth,
that he permit a wicked Spirit, to make tJiee feel as many
Torments before thy Death, as thou hast caused me to feel
before mine : Scarce four days were past after this horrible
Fact, when the Almighty Judge gave permission to the
Father of Wickedness to possess the Body of that cruel
Master, and to make him lacerate his own Flesh until he
died, belike surrendring his Ghost into the Hands of the
infernal Spirit, who had tormented his Body : But of this
Tragical Story enough.

To proceed, Is it not usual for Persons after their Death
to appear unto the Living; But it does not therefore
follow, that the great God will not suffer this to be : For
both in former and latter Ages, Examples thereof have not
been wanting : No longer since than the last Winter, there
\ras much discourse in London concerning a Gentlewoman,
unto whom her dead Son (and another whom she knew not)

1 P. 75, 76.
R

242 CASES OF CONSCIENCE

had appeared : Being then in London, I was Willing to
satisfie my self, by enquiring into the Truth of what was
reported ; and on Febr. 23. 1691. my Brother (who is now
a Pastor to a Congregation in that City) and I discoursed
the Gentlewoman spoken of; she told us, that a Son of
hers, who had been a very civil young Man, but more airy
in his Temper than was pleasing to his serious Mother,
being dead, she was much concerned nrher Thoughts about
his Condition in the other World ; but a Fortnight after
his Death he appeared to her, saying, Mother, you are
solicitous about my Spiritual Welfare ; trouble your self
no more, for I am happy, and so vanished ; should there
be a continual Intercourse between the Visible and Invisi-
ble World, it would breed Confusion. But from thence to
infer, that the great Ruler of the Universe will never per-
mit any thing of this nature to be, is an inconsequent
Conclusion • it is not usual for Devils to be permitted to
come and violently carry away persons through the Air,
several miles from their Habitations : Nevertheless, this
was done in Sweedland about twenty Years ago, by means
of a cursed Knot of Witches there. And a learned Physi-
cian now living, giveth an account of several Children, who
by Diabolical Frauds were stollen from their Parents, and
others left in their room : And of two, that in the night-
time a Line was by invisible Hands put about their Necks,
with which they had been strangled, but that some near
them happily prevented it. V. Germ. Ephem. Anno 1689.
pag. 51. 516.

Let me further add here ; It has very seldom been known,
that Satan has Personated innocent Men doing an ill

CONCERNING WITCHCRAFTS, 243

thing, but Providence has found out some way for their
Vindication ;< either they have been able to prove that they
were in another place when that Fact was done, or the like.
So that perhaps there never was an Instance of any inno-
cent Person Condemned in any Court of Judicature on
Earth, only through Satans deluding and imposing on the
Imaginations of Men, when nevertheless, the Witnesses,
Juries, and Judges, were all to be excused from blame.

Arg. 4. It is certain both from Scripture and History,
that Magicians by their Incbantments and Hellish conju-
rations, may cause a false Representation of Persons and
Things. An inchanted eye shall see such things as others
cannot discern ; it is a thing too well known to be denied,
that some by rubbing their eyes with a bewitched Water,
have immediately thereupon seen that which others could
not discern ; and there are Persons in the World, who have
a strange Spectral sight. Mr. Glanvil1 speaks of a Dutch-
man that could see Ghosts which others could perceive
nothing of. There are in Spain a sort of men whom they
call Zahurs, these can see into the Bowels of the Earth ;
they are able to discover Minerals and hidden Treasures ;
nevertheless, tkey have their extraordinary sight only on
Tuesdays and Fridays, and not on the other days of the
Week. Delrio saith, that when he was at Madrid, Anne
Dom. 1575. he saw some of these strange sighted Creatures.
Mr. George Sinclare, in his Book Entituled, Satans Invisi-
ble World discovered,2 has these Words, ' I am undoubt-

1 In his Sadducism Triumph. Collection, p. 201.

2 P. 215. (Disa. Magic.) 1. 1. c. 3. p. 22.

244 CASES OF CONSCIENCE

1 edly informed, that men and women in the High-lands can
' discern Fatality approaching others, by seeing them in the

* Waters or with Winding Sheets about them. And that
'others can lecture in a Sheeps shoulder-bone a Death

* within the Parish seven or eight Days before it come. It

* is not improbable but that such Preternatural Knowledge
4 comes first by a Compact with the Devil, and is derived

* downward by Succession to their Posterity : Many such I
' suppose are Innocent, and have this sight against their
' Will and Inclination/' Thus Mr. Sinclare, I concur with
his supposal, that such Knowledge is originally from Satan,
and perhaps the Effect of some old Inchantment. There
are some at this day in the World, that if they come into
a House where one of the Family will die within a Fort-
night, the smell of a dead Corpse offends them to such a
degree, as that they cannot stay in that House. It is re-
ported that near unto the Abby of St. Maurice in Bur-
gundy1 there is a Fishpond in which are Fishes put accor-
ding to the number of the Monks of that place ; if any one
of them happened to be sick, there is a Fish seen to Float
and Swim above Water half dead, and if the Monk shall
die, the Fish a few days before dieth. In some parts in
Wales Death-lights or Corps Candles (as they call them)
are seen in the night time going from the House where
some body will shortly die, and passing in to the Church-
yard. Of this, my Honoured and never to be forgotten
Friend Mr. Richard Baxter? has given an Account in his
Book about Witchcrafts lately Published : what to make of

1 Vairus de Fascino. Lib. 2. 2 P. 131.

CONCERNING WITCHCRAFTS. 245

such things, except they be the effects of some old Inchant
ment, I know not; nor what Natural Reason to assign for
that which I find amongst the Observations of the Imperial
Academy for the Year 1687, viz. That in an Orchard where
are choice Damascen Plumbs, the Master of the Family
being sick of a Quartan Ague, whilst he continued very ill,
four of his Plumb-trees instead of Damascens brought
forth a vile sort of yellow Plumbs : but recovering Health,
the next Year the Tree did (as formerly) bear Damascens
again ; but when after that he fell into a fatal Dropsie, on
those Trees were seen not Damascens, but another sort of
Fruit. The same Author1 gives Instances of which he had
the certain knowledge, concerning Apple-trees and Pear-
trees, that the Fruit of them would on a sudden wither as
if they had been baked in an Oven, when the owners of
them were mortally sick. It is no less strange that in the
Illustrious Electoral2 House of Brandenburg before the
Death of some one of the Family Feminine Spectres ap-
peared : 3and often in the Houses of Great men, Voices
and Visions from the Invisible World have been the Har-
bingers of Death. When any Heir in the Worshipful
Family of the Breertons in Cheshire is near his Death,
there are seen in a Pool adjoyning, Bodies of Trees swim-
ming for certain days together, on which Learned Carnbden*
has this note, These and such like things are done either by

1 V. Germ. Ephemer. Anno 16. p. 379.

2 Henkelius de obsessis, pag. 86.

3 Camerar. cent. I. c. 73. Cardan de rerum varietate, Lib. 16.
cap. 93.

4 In his Britannia, p. 609.

246 CASES OF CONSCIENCE

the Holy Tutelar Angels of Men, or else ~by the Devils, who
by Gods permission mightily shew their Power in this In-
feriour World. As for Mr. Sinclare's Notion that some
Persons may have a second Sight, (as 'tis termed) and yet
be themselves Innocent, I am satisfied that he judgeth
right ; for this is common amongst the Laplanders, who
are horribly addicted to Magical Incantations : They
bequeath their Daemons to their Children as a Legacy, by
whom they are often assisted (like Bewitched Persons as
they are) to see and do things beyond the Power of Nature.
An Historian who deserves Credit, relates,1 that a certain
Laplander gave him a true and particular Account of what
had happened to him in his Journey to Lapland; and
further complained to him with Tears, that things at great
distance were represented to him, and how much he desired
to be Delivered from that Diabolical Sight, but could not ;
this doubtless was caused by some Inchantment. But to
proceed to what I intend ; the Eyes of Persons by reason
of Inchanting Charms, may not only see what others do not,
but be under such power of Fascination, as that things
which are not, shall appear to them as real : The Apostle
speaks of Bewitched Eyes, Gal. 3. 1. and we know from
Scripture, that the Imaginations of men have by Inchant-
ments been imposed upon ; and Histories abound with very
strange Instances of this Nature : The old Witch Circe by
an Inchanted Cup caused Ulysses his Companions to ima-
gine themselves to be turned into Swine ; and how many
Witches have been themselves so bewitched by the Devil,

1 See the Hist, of Lapland, and Mr. Burton's Hist, of Desmans.

CONCERNING WITCHCRAFTS. 247

as really to believe that they were transformed into Wolves,
or Dogs, or Cats. It is reported of Simon Magu£,1 that by
his Sorceries he would so impose on the Imaginations of
People, as that they thought he had really changed himself
into another sort of Creature. Opollonius of Tyana could
out do Simon with his Magick : The great Bohemian Con-
jurer Zyto* by his Inchantments, caused certain Persons
whom he had a mind to try his Art upon, to image that
their Hands were turned into the Feet of an Ox, or into
the Hoofs of a Horse, so that they could not reach to the
Dishes before them to take any thing thence ; he sold
Wisps of Straw to a Butcher who bought them for Swine ;
that many such prestigious Pranks were played, by the
unhappy Faustm, is attested by Camerarius, Wyerus,
Voetius, Lavater, and Lonicer.

There is newly Published a Book (mentioned in the Acta
Eritditorwni) wherein the Author 3( JViechard Valvassor)
relates, that a Venetian Jew instructed him (only he would
not attend his Instructions) how to make a Magical Glass
which should represent any Person or thing according as
he should desire. If a Magician by an Inchanted Glass
can do this, he may as well by the help of a Daemon cause
false Idceas of Persons and Things to be impressed on the
Imaginations of bewitched Persons ; the Blood and Spirits
of a Man, that is bitten with a Mad-Dog, are so envenomed,
as that strange Impressions are thereby made on his Ima-
gination : let him be brought into a Room where there is a

1 Schotten, Physic, curios, lib. 1. c. 16.

* See Wanly, Of the Wonders of the World, p. 215.

8 Ubi Supra.

248 CASES OF CONSCIENCE

Looking-Glass, and he will (if put upon it) not only say
but swear that he sees a Dog, tho' in truth there is no
Dog it may be within 20 Miles of him; and is it not then
possible for the Dogs of Hell to poyson the Imaginations of
miserable Creatures, so as that they shall believe and swear
that such Persons hurt them as never did so? I have heard
of an Inchanted Pin, that has caused the Condemnation
and Death of many scores of innocent Persons. There was
a notorious Witchfinder in Scotland, that undertook by a
Pin, to make an infallible Discovery of suspected Persons,
whether they were Witches or not, if when the Pin was
run an Inch or two into the Body of the accused Party no
Blood appeared, nor any sense of Pain, then he declared
them to be Witches ; by means hereof my Author tells
me no less then 300 persons were Condemned for Witches
in that Kingdom. This Bloody Jugler after he had done
enough in Scotland, came to the Town of Berwick upon
Tweed ; an honest Man now living in New-England as-
sureth me, that he saw the Man thrust a great Brass Pin
two Inches into the Body of one, that some would in that
way try whether there was Witchcraft in the Case or no :
the accused Party was not in the least sensible of what was
done, and therefore in danger of receiving the Punishment
justly due for Witchcraft; only it so happened, that Collonel
Fenwick (that worthy Gentleman, who many years since
lived in New-England) was then the Military Govern our
in that Town ; he sent for the Mayor and Magistrates ad-
vising them to be careful and cautious in their proceedings ;
for he told them, it might be an Inchanted Pin, which the
Witchfinder made use of: Whereupon the Magistrates of

CONCERNING WITCHCRAFTS. 249

the place ordered that he should make his Experiment with
some other Pin as they should appoint : But that he would
by no means be induced unto, which was a sufficient Dis-
covery of the Knavery and Witchery of the Witchfmder.
There is a strange Diabolical Energy goeth along with In-
cantations. If Balak had not known that he would not
have sent for Balaam, to see whether he could inchant the
Children of Israel. The Scripture intimates that Incbant-
ments will keep a Serpent from biting, Eccles. 10. 11. A
Witch in Sweedland confessed, that the Devil gave her a
wooden Knife ; and that if she did but touch any living
thing with that Knife, it would die immediately : And that
there is a wonderful Power of the Devil attending things
inchanted, we have confirmed by a prodigious Instance in
Major Weir, a Scotch Man : That wretched Man was a
perfect Prodigy; a Man of great Parts ; esteemed a Saint,
yet lived in secret Uncleanness with his own Sister for thirty
four Years together : After his wickedness was discovered,
he did not seem to be troubled at any of his Crimes, except-
ing that he had caused a poor Woman to be publickly
whipped, because she reported that she had seen him com-
mitting Bestiality; which thing was true, only the Woman
could not prove it. This horrid Creature, if he had his In-
chanted Staff in his Hand could pray to admiration, and do
extraordinary things, as is more amply related in the Post-
script to Mr. Sinclares his Book before mentioned : But
if he had not his Inchanted Rod to lean upon, he could not
transform himself into an Angel of Light : But by all these
things we may conclude, that it is not impossible, but that
a guilty Conjurer, that so he may render himself the less

250 CASES OF CONSCIENCE

suspected, may by his Magical Art and Inchantment, cause
innocent Persons to be represented as afflicting those whom
the Devil and himself are the Tormentors of.

Arg. 5. The Truth we affirm is so evident, as that
many Learned and Judicious Men have freely subscribed
unto it.

The memorable Relation of the Devils assuming the
shape of an innocent Citizen in Zurich, is in the Judgment
of that great Divine Lud Lavater, of weighty Considera-
tion : And he declares, that he does therefore mention it,
that so Judges might be cautelous in their Proceedings in
Cases of this nature, inasmuch as the Devil does often in
that way intangle innocent Persons, and bring them into
great Troubles. His Words are, lHanc Historiam idea
recito, ut Judices, in hujusmodi, Casibus cauti sint: Did-
bolus enim hoc via scepe innocentibus insidiatur. He con-
firms what he saith by reciting a Passage out of Alertus
Granzius, who writes that the Devil was seen in the shape
of a Nobleman to come out of the Empress's Chamber :
But to clear her Innocency, she (according to the super-
stitious Ordeals then in fashion) walked blindfold over a
great many of glowing hot Irons without touching any of
them. Voetius in his 2Disputation of Spectres proposeth
that Question, whether the Devil may not untruly personate
a Godly Man, and answers in the Affirmative : And withal
adds, that it is sufficient Argument (ad hominem) to answer
the Papists with their own Histories, which give Instances

1 DC Spectris, p. 88, 87. 2 Disput. Sdcct. Vol. 1. pag. 1008.

CONCERNING WITCHCRAFTS. 251

of Satan's appearing in the Figure of Saints, nay of Christ
himself. And in his Discourse concerning the Operations
of Daemons1 he has the like Problem, whether the Devil
may not possibly put on the shape of a true Believer, a real
Saint, not only of such as are dead, but still living, and
answers, Quidni ? Why not ? It is true Popish Casuists*
do generally incline to the Negative in this Question :
Nevertheless, the Instance of Germanus, who saw a Com-
pany of honest People represented by the Devil, as if they
had been feasting together, when they were really asleep
in their Beds, does a little puzzle them, so as that they are
necessitated to take up with this Conclusion, *That by an
extraordinary Permission of God, innocent Persons may
be represented by Satan in the Nocturnal Conventicles of
Witches : And if so, much more as afflicting bewitched
Persons. Delrio giveth an account of an innocent Monk,
whose Reputation was indangered by a Daemon's appearing
in his shape. He writes more like a Divine than Jesuits
use to do, when he saith that, 4It is not absolutely to be
denied, but that the Devils may exhibite the Forms of inno-
cent Persons, if God permit it, who when he does permit it,
usually by some Providence discovers the Fraud of the
Devils, that so the Innocent may be vindicated, or if not,
it is to bring thtm to repentance for some Sin, or to try
their Patience. It is rare to see such Words dropping
from the Pen of a Jesuit : As for Protestant Writers, I

1 P. 944. 2 Thyraus de Apparitionibus, Lib. 2. Cap. 14.
8 Binsfidd de Confestionibus sagarum, p. 183. 191.
4 Disquis. Magic. Lab. 2. Q. 12. p. 143.

252 CASES OF CONSCIENCE

cannot call to mind one of any Note, that does deny the
Possibility of the affirmative, in the Question before us.
Dr. Henkelius has lately published a learned and elabor-
ate Discourse concerning the right Method of curing such
as are obsessed with Cacodcemons, in which he asserts, that
Satan may possibly assume the Form of innocent and pious
Persons, that so he might thereby 'destroy 'their Reputations^
and expose them to undue Punishments. As for OUT English
Divines, there are not many greater Casuists than Mr.
Perkins ; nor do I know any one that has written on the
Case of Witchcraft with more Judgment and Clearness of
Understanding: He has these Words,2 "If a Man being
11 dangerously sick and like to die upon suspicion, will take
" it on his death, that such an one has bewitched him, it is
" an allegation which may move the Judge to examine the
" Party, but it is of no moment for Conviction." The like
is asserted by 3Mr. Cooper, Mr. Bernard, (once a famous
Minister at Batcomb in Somerset) his Book called A Guide
to Grand Jury-men in Cases of Witchcraft, is a solid and
wise Treatise. What his Judgment was in the Case now
under debate, we may see, pay. 209, 210. where his Words
are these ; " An Apparition of the Party suspected, whom
" the Afflicted in their Fits seem to see, is a great suspicion ;
"yet this is but a presumption, tho' a strong one, because
"these Apparitions are wrought by the Devil, who can
" represent to the Phansie such as the Parties use to fear,
" in which his representation he may well lye as in his other

1 Printed at Frankfort, Anno 1681.

2 Discourse of Witchcraft, Ch. 7. Sect. 2. p. 644.

3 In his Witchcraft discovered, p. 277.

CONCERNING WITCHCRAFTS. 253

" Witness : For if the Devil can represent to the Witch
" a seeming Samuel, saying, I see Gods ascending out of
" the Earth, to beguile Saul, may we not think he can re-
present a common ordinary Person, Man or Woman un-
" regenerate, tho' no Witch to the Phansie of vain Persons,
" to deceive them and others that will give Credit to the
"Devil." Thus Mr. Bernard.

As for .the Judgment of the Elders in New-England, so
far as I can learn, they do generally concur with Mr. Per-
kins, and Mr. Bernard. This I know, that at a Meeting
of Ministers at Cambridge, August 1. 1692. where were
present seven elders besides the President of the Colledge,
the Question then discoursed on, was, Whether the Devil
may not sometimes have a Permission to represent an inno-
cent Person as tormenting such as are under Diabolical
Molestations? The Answer which they all concurred in,
was in these words, viz., That the Devil may sometimes
have a Permission to represent an innocent Person as tor-
menting such as are under Diabolical Molestations ; liit
that such things are rare and extraordinary, especially
when such Matters come before Civil Judicatures: Arid
that some of the most eminent Ministers in the Land, who
were not at that Meeting are of the same Judgment, I am
assured : And I am also sure, that in Cases of this nature
the Priest's Lips should keep Knoivledge, and they should
seek the Laiv at his Mouth, Mai. 2. 7.

Arg. 6. Our own Experience has confirmed the Truth of
what ive affirm.

I have in another Book given an account concerning

254 CASES OF CONSCIENCE

Elizabeth Knap of Groton, who complained that a Woman
as eminent for Piety as any in that Town, did appear to
her, and afflict her : But afterwards she was satisfied that
that Person never did her any harm, but that the Devil
abused them both. About two Years ago, a bewitched
Person in Chelmsford in her Fits, complained that a worthy
good Man, a near Relation of hers did afflict her : So did
she likewise complain of another Person in that town of
known integrity and Piety.

I have my self known several of whom I ought to think
that they are now in Heaves, considering that they were
of good Conversation, and reputed Pious by those that had
the greatest Intimacy with them, of whom nevertheless,
some complained that their Shapes appeared to them, and
threatned them : Nor is this answered by saying, we do
not know but those Persons might be Witches : We are
bound by the Rule of Charity to think otherwise : And
they that censure any, meerly because such a sad Affliction
as their being, falsly represented by Satan has befallen them,
do not do as -they would be done by. I bless the Lord, it
was never the portion allotted to me, nor to any Relation
of mine to be thus abused : But no Man knoweth what may
happen to him, since there be just Men unto whom it hap-
peneth according to the Work of the Wicked, Eccles. 8.
1 4. But what needs more to be said, since there is one
amongst our selves whom no Man that knows him, can
think him to be a Wizzard, whom yet some bewitched
Persons complained of, that they are in his Shape tor-
mented : And the Devils have of late accused some eminent
Persons.

CONCERNING WITCHCRAFTS. 255

It is an awful thing which the Lord has done to convince
8ouie amongst us of their Error : This then I declare and
testifie, that to take away the Life of any one, meerly be-
cause a Spectre or Devil, in a bewitched or possessed Person
does accuse them, will bring the Guilt of innocent Blood
on the Land, where such a thing shall be done : Mercy
forbid that it should, (and I trust that as it has not it never
will be so) in New-England. What does such an Evidence
amount unto more than this : Either such an one did afflict
such an one, or the Devil in his likeness, or his Eyea were
bewitched.

The things which have been mentioned make way for,
and bring us unto the second Case, which is to come under
our Consideration, viz.

If one bewitched is struck down at the Look or cast of
the Eye of another, and after that recovered again by a
Touch from the same Per son, I snot this aninfallible Proof,
that the Person suspected and complained of is in League
with the Devil ?

Answer ; It must be owned that by such things as these
Witchcrafts and Witches have been discovered more than
once or twice : And that an ill Fame, or other Circum-
stances attending the suspected Party, this may be a Ground
for Examination ; but this alone does not afford sufficient
Matter for Conviction : As Spectres or Devils appearing
in the shapes of Men that have been murdered, declaring
that they were murdered by such Persons and in such a
place, may give just occasion to the Magistrate for Enquiry
into the Matter : One great Witch-Advocate1 confes-

1 Webster's displaying of supposed Witchcraft, p. 298. 301.

256 CASES OF CONSCIENCE

Beth, that by this means Murders have been brought to
light; yet that alone, if the other circumstances did not con-
cur, would not by the Law of God take away the Life of
any Man. If my Reader pleaseth, he shall hear what
old Mr. Bernard ofBatcomb saith to a Case not unlike to
this, and the former: His Words are these,1 'The naming

* of the suspected in their Fits, and also where they have
' been, and what they have done here or there, as Mr.
' Throgmorton's Children could do, and that often and ever
' found true ; this is a great Presumption :- yet is this but

* a Presumption, because this is only the Devils Testimony,
'who can lie, and that more often than speak Truth.
' Christ would not allow his Witness of him in a point
' most true ; nor St. Paul in the due Praises of him and
' Sylas; his Witness then may not be received as sufficient
f in case of ones Life : He may accuse an Innocent, as I
' shewed before in Mr. Edmund's giving over his Practice
' to find Stollen Goods ; and Satan we read would accuse
' Job to God himself to be an Hypocrite, and to be ready
4 to be a Blasphemer, and he is called the Accuser of the
' Brethren. Albeit, I cannot deny but this has very often

* proved true, yet seeing the Devil is such an one as you
' heard, Christian Men should not take his Witness, to give
' in Verdict upon Oath, and so swear that the Devil has

* therein spoken the Truth ; be it far from good men to
f confirm any Word of the Devil by Oath, if it be not an
1 evident Truth without the Devil's Testimony, who in speak-

* ing the Truth, has a lying Intent, and speaks some Truths

1 Ubi supra, p. 207, 208.

CONCERNING WITCHCRAFTS. 257

* of things done, which may be found to be so, that he may

* wrap with them some pernicious Lye, which cannot be

* tried to be true, but must rest upon his own testimony to

* ensnare the Blood of the Innocent.' Thus Mr. Bernard
resolved the Case above sixty Years ago ; and truly in my
Opinion like a Wise and Orthodox Divine, what he says,
reacheth both this and the former Case. Dr. Gotta (a
Learned Physician) in his Book, about The Tryal of
Witchcraft, shewing the true and right Method of the Dis-
covery, with a Confutation of Erroneous ways (which Book
he dedicates to the Right Honourable Sir Edwqrd Cook,
Lord Chief Justice of England,)1 He discourses concerning
Exploration of Witches by the touch of the Witch curing
the touched bewitched, and sheweth the Fallibility and
Vanity of that way of Tryal, tho' he had often seen Per-
sons bewitched in that way immediately delivered from the
present Fit or Agony which was upon them : But he taketh
it to be a Diabolical Miracle. He argueth thus,2 ' No Man
' can doubt but that the Vertue wherewith this touch was

* indued, is supernatural : If it be so, How can man to
4 whom nothing is simply possible that is not natural be
'justly reputed an Agent therein ? If he cannot be
4 esteemed in himself any possible or true Agent, then it
1 remaineth that he can only be interested therein as an
1 Accessary in Consent, or as a Servant unto a Superior
'Power : If that Superior Power be the Devil, the least

* reasonable doubt, whether the Devil alone, or with the
' Consent or Contract of the suspected Person has produced

* that wonderful effect ; with what Religion or Reason can

1 Ch. 15. p. 14, &c. *Pag. 121, 122.

S

258 CASES OF CONSCIENCE

* any Man incline rather to credit the Devil's mouth in the
' Bewitched, than to pity the Accused, and believe them
' against the subtility of a deceitful Devil : If the Devil by

* Divine Permission may cause supernatural Concomitances

* and Consequences to attend the natural Actions of Men

* without their allowance, as is manifest in possessed Per-

* sons, how is it reasonable and just that the Impositions of
1 the Devil should be imputed unto any Man : And (saith
' he) God forbid that the Devil's Signs and Wonders, nay

* his Truths, should become any legal Allegations or Evi-
1 dences in Law. We may therefore conclude it unjust,
' that theforenamed miraculous Effect by the Devil wrought
' and imputed by the Bewitched, should be esteemed an in-

* fallible mark against any Man, as therefore convinced for

* that the Devil and the Bewitched have so decyphered him ! '
Thus that Learned Man. But to the Case in hand, I have
several things to offer.

1. It is possible that the Persons in Question may be
possessed with Cacodcemons : That bewitched Persons are
many times really possessed with evil Spirits, is most cer-
tain. And as Mr. Perkins observes, no Man can prove
but that Witchcraft might be the Cause of many of those
Possessions, which we read of in the Gospel : And that
Devils have been immitted into the Bodies of miserable
Creatures by Magicians and Witches, Histories and Ex-
perience do abundantly testifie. Ilierom1 relates concerning
a certain Virgin, that a young Man, whose Amours she
despised, prevailed with a Magician to send an evil Spirit
into her, by means whereof she was strangely besotted.
1 In vita Hilarion.

CONCERNING WITCHCRAFTS. 259

Tis reported1 of Simon Magus, that after he had used an
Hellish Sacrifice, to be revenged of some that had called
him a great Witch, he caused infernal Spirits to enter into
them. Many confessing Witches have acknowledged, that
they were the Cause of such and such Persons being
possessed of evil Angels, as -Thyrceus and others have ob-
served : Now no Credit ought to be given to what Dcemons
in such as are by them obsessed shall say. Our Saviour by
his own unerring Example has taught us not to receive the
Devil's Testimony in any thing. The Papists are justly
condemned for bringing Diabolical Testimony to confirm
the Principles of their Religion. Peter Cotton the Jesuite3
enquired of the Devil in a possessed Person, what was the
clearest Scripture to prove Purgatory. At the time when
Luther died, all the possessed People in the Netherlands
were quiet : The Devils in them said, the Reason was, be-
cause Luther* had been a great Friend of theirs, and they
owed him that respect as to go as f:,r as Germany to attend
his Funeral. Another time when there was a talk of some
Ministers of the Reformed Religion, the Devils in the Ob-
sessed laughed and said, they were not at all afraid of them,
for the Calvinists and they were very good Friends. The
Jesuits insult with these Testimonies as if they were Divine
Oracles : But the Father of Lyes is never to be believed :
He will utter twenty great truths to make way for one lye :
He will accuse twenty Witches, if he can but thereby bring
one innocent Person into trouble : He mixeth Truths with

1 Anastasius, Qu. 23.

2 In Disput. de Da'moniacis, part 1. chap. 16. p. 30.

3 Thuanus, lib 130. p. 1136. 4 Thyrceus, ubi supra, p. 16.

260 CASES OF CONSCIENCE

Lyes, that so those truths giving credit unto lyes, Men may
believe both, and so be deceived : And whereas some say,
that the Persons in question are only bewitched and not
possessed, let it be considered that possessed Persons are
called Energumens from EPFOMAI Agitor : They whose
Bodies are preternaturally agitated, so as to be in danger of
being thrown into the Fire, or into the Water, though they
may be bewitched, are undoubtedly possessed with Daemons,
Mark 9. 22, 25. Learned Men1 give it as a most certain
sign of Possession, when the afflicted Party can see and
hear that which no one else can discern any thing of, and
when they can discover 2seeret things, Acts, 6. 16. past,
or future, 3as a possessed Person in Germany foretold
the War which broke out in the Year 1546. And when
the Limbs of miserable Creatures, are bent and disjointed
so as could not possible be without a Luxation of Joints,
were it not done by a preternatural Hand, and yet no hurt
raised thereby that argueth Possession. Also when Per-
sons are by the Devil cast into Fits, in the which they speak
of things, that afterwards they have no remembrance of,4
or, if they are by cruel Devils tortured, so as to cause
horrendous Clamours in the distressed Sufferers, that's
another sign of Obsession by evil Spirits : If all these things
concur in the Persons concerning where the Question is,
we may conclude them to be Dcemoniacks : and if so, no
Juror can with a safe Conscience look on the Testimony of
such, as sufficient to take away the Life of any Man.
2. Falling down by the cast of an Eye proceeds not from

3 HenTcel, ubi supra, p. 47, 50. 2 ErocJcmand, Theol. p. 265.
3 Melancthon, Epist 4 Tostatus, in Mat, 8. Q. 114.

CONCERNING WITCHCRAFTS. 261

a natural, but an arbitrary Cause ?• not from any Poyson
in the Eye of the Witch, but from the Agency of some
Dcemon : The opinion of Fascination by the Eye is an
old Fable, and (saith Mr. Perkins) as fond as old. Pliny2
speaks of a People that killed folks by looking on them ;
and he adds, that they had two Apples in each eye : and
Tully writes of women who had two Apples in one Eye
that always did mischief with their meer looks ; So Ovid,
Pupula duplex fulminat. And Plutarch? writes that some
persons have such a Poyson in their Eyes, as that their
Friends and Familiars are Fascinated thereby; nay he
speaks of one that Bewitched himself sick by looking on
his own Face in a Glass : Others write of Fascination by
a meer Prolation of Words ; and for ought I know, there
may be as much Witchery in the Tongue as there is in the
Eye. Sennertus* has discovered the Superstition of these
Fancies ; Sight does not proceed from an Emission of Rays
from the Eye, but by a reception of the visible Species ;
and if it be (as Philosophers conclude) an innocent Action
and not an Emission of Optick Spirits, so that sight as such,
does receive something from the Object, and not act upon
it, the Notion of Fascination by the Eye is unphilosophical :
It is true, that sore Eyes will affect those that look upon
them, Dum spectant Oculi Lcesos, Leduntur & ipsi, for
which a natural Reason is easily to be assigned ; but if the
Witches Eyes are thus infected with a natural Contagion,
Whence is it, that only Bewitched Persons are hurt thereby1?
If the vulgar Error concerning the Basilisks killing with

1 Baldvrin, Case of Cons. 1. 3. c. 3. p. 621. 2 Lib. 7. Cap. 2.
8 5 Sympos. Cap. 7. 4 Med. Precl. lib. 6. pars 9. cap. 1.

262 CASES OF CONSCIENCE

the Look of his Poysonful Eye were a Truth, whatever
person that Serpent cast his Eye upon would be poysoned.
So if Witches had a physical Venom in their Eyes, others
as well as Fascinated Persons would be sensible thereof;
there is as much Truth in this fancy of Physical Venom in
the Eye of a Witch, as there is in what Pliny1 and others
relate concerning the Thibians, viz. that they have two
Apples in one Eye, and the Effigies of an Horse in the other
Eye ; and that they are a people that cannot be drowned.

3. As for that which concerns the Bewitched Persons
being recovered out of their Agonies by the Touch of the
suspected Party, it is various and fallible.

For sometimes the afflicted Person is made sick, (instead
of being made whole) by the Touch of the Accused ; some-
times the Power of Imagination is such, as that the Touch
of a Person innocent and not accused shall have the same
effect. It is related in the Account of the Tryals of Witches
at Bury in Suffolk 1664, during the time2 of the Tryal,
there were some Experiments made with the Persons
afflicted, by bringing the accused to touch them, and it
was observed that by the least Touch of one of the supposed
Witches, they that were in their Fits, to all mens Appre-
hension wholly deprived of all Sense and Understandings,
would suddenly shriek out and open their Hands.

Mr. Serjeant Keeling did not think that sufficient to
Convict the Prisoners, for admitting that the Children were
in truth Bewitched, yet (saith he) it cannot be applyed to
the Prisoners upon the Imagination only of the Parties

1 Lib. 2. cap. 2. Wierus, 1. 6. c. 9. p. 683,

2 See the Tryal, p. 40. 43. 45.

CONCERNING WITCHCRAFTS. 263

afflicted ; for if that might be allowed, no Person whatso-
ever can be in safety, for perhaps they might fancy another
Person who might altogether be innocent in such matters :
To avoid this Scruple it was privately desired by the Judge,
that some Gentlemen there in Court would attend one of
the distempered Persons in the farther part of the Hall,
whilst she was in her Fits, and then to send for one of the
Witches to try what would happen, which they did accor-
dingly. One of them was conveyed from the Bar, and
brought to the Afflicted Maid. They put an Apron before
her Eyes, and then another person (not the Witch) touched
her, which produced the same effect, as the Touch of the
Witch did in the Court. Whereupon the Gentlemen re-
turned much unsatisfied. Bodin1 relates, that a Witch
who was Tryed at Nants, was commanded by the Judges
to touch a Bewitched person, a thing often practised by
the Judges of Germany in the Imperial Chamber. The
Witch was extreamly unwilling, but being Compelled by
the Judges, she cryed out, / am undone ; and as soon as
ever she touched the Afflicted person, the Witch fell down
dead, and the other recovered. That horrid Witch of
Salisbury, Ann Bodenham2 who had been Servant to the
Notorious Conjurer Dr. Lamb, could not bear the sight of
one that was Bewitched by her. As soon as ever she saw
the Afflicted Person, she ran about shrieking, and crying,
and roaring after an hideous manner, that the Devil would
tear her in pieces, if that person came near her. And whilst
the Witch was in such Torment, the Bewitched was at ease.

1 In Dccmonomania. See Mr. Bromhal's History of Apparitions,p. 136.

2 See the Printed Kelation, p. 30, 31.

264 CASES OF CONSCIENCE

By these things we see, that the Laws and Customs of the
Kingdom of darkness, are not always and in all places the
same.

And it is good for men to concern themselves with them
as little as may be.

I think there is weight in Dr. Cotta's1 Argument, viz.

Tfiat the Gift of healing the Sick and Possessed, was a
special Grace and Favour of God, for ike Confirmation
of the Truth of the Gospel, but that such a Gift should bt
annexed to the Touch of kicked Witches, as an infallible
sign of their guilt, is not easie to be believed. It is a thing
well known, that if a person possessed by an Evil Spirit, is
(as oft it so happens) never so outragious whilst a good
man is Praying with and for the Afflicted, let him lay his
hand on them, and the Evil Spirit is quiet. I hope this
is no evidence of any Covenant, or voluntary Communion
between the Good Man that is Praying and the Evil Spirit ;
no more does the Case before us evince any such thing.

4. There are that Question the Lawfulness of the Ex-
periment. For if this healing power in the Witch is not
a Divine but a Diabolical Gift, it may be dangerous to
meddle too much with it. If the Witch may be ordered to
touch afflicted Persons in order to their healing or recoveiy
out of a sick Fit, why may not the Deceased Person be as
well ordered to touch the Witch for the same cause ? And
if to touch him, why not to scratch him and fetch Blood
out of him, which is but an harder kind of touch ? But as
for this Mr. Perkins doubts not to call it a Practice of
Witchcraft. It is not safe to meddle with any of the Devils
1 Ubi supra, p. 121.

CONCERNING WITCHCEAFTS. 265

Sacraments or Institutions; For my own part, I should be
loath to say to a Man, that I knew or thought was d
Witch, do you look on such a Person, and see if you can
Witch them into a Fit, and there is such an afflicted Per-
son do you take them by the Hand, and see if you can
Witch them well again. If it is by vertue of some Con-
tract with the Devil that witches have Power to do such,
things, it is hard to conceive how they can be bid to do them,
without being too much concerned in that Hellish Covenant.
I take it to be (as elsewhere1 I have expressed) a solid
Principle, which the Learned Sennertus insists on, viz.
That they who force another to do that which he cannot
possibly do, but by vertue of a Compact with the Devil,
have themselves implicitely Communion with the Diabolical
Covenant. The Devil is pleased and honoured when any
of his Institutions are made use of; this way of discovering
Witches, is no better than that of putting the Urine of the
afflicted Person into a Bottle, that so the Witch may be
tormented and discovered : the Vanity and Superstition of
which practice I have formerly shewed, and testified against.
There was a Conjurer his name was Edward Drake2 wJw
taught a Man to use tfiat Experiment for the Relief of his
afflicted Daughter, who found benefit thereby ; But we
ought not to practice Witchcraft to discover Witches, nor
may we make use of a White healing Witch (as they call
them) to find out a Black and Bloody one. And how did
men first come to know that Witches would be discovered

1 Remarkable Providences, p. 267.

2 See Mr. Burton's History of Daemons, p. 136, and Mr. Robert's
Nar. of the Witches in Suffolk.

266 CASES OF CONSCIENCE

in such ways as these, which have been mentioned 1 If
Satan himself were the first Discoverer (as there is reason
to believe) the experiment must needs have deceit in it.
See Dr. Willet on Exod. 7. Quest. 9. And such Experi-
ments better become Pagans or Papists than Professors in
New-England ; whereas 'tis pleaded, that such things are
practised by the Judges of the Imperial Chamber, I reply,
that those Judges (As Bodin relates, Lib. 3, Daemon. Cap.
6.) have required suspected Witches to pronounce over the
afflicted persons, these words, / bless thee in the Name of
the Father, &c. upon which they have immediately reco-
vered; but is the dark day come upon us, that such
Superstitions as these shall be practised in New-England:
The Lord Jesus forbid it. See Baldwin's Testimony
against the Practice of the Camera Imperialis, Gas. Cousc.
L. 3. c. 3. p. 634.

5. If the Testimony of a beivitched or possessed Person,
is of validity as to what they see done to themselves, then
it is so as to others, whom they see afflicted no less than
themselves : But what they affirm concerning others, is not
to be taken for Evidence. Whence had they this Super-
natural Sight ? It must needs be either from Heaven or
from Hell : If from Heaven, (as Elisha's Servant, and
Balaam's Ass could discern Angels) let their Testimony be
received : But if they had this Knowledge from Hell, tho'
there may possibly be truth in what they affirm, they are
not legal Witnesses : For the Law of God allows of no
Revelation from any other Spirit but himself, Isa. 8. 19.
It is a Sin against God to make use of the Devil's help to
know that which cannot be otherwise known : And I testi-

CONCERNING WITCHCRAFTS. 267

fie against it, as a great Transgression, which may justly
provoke the Holy one of Israel, to let loose Devils on the
whole Land, Luke 4. 35. See Mr. Bernard's Guide to
Juries in Cases of Witchcraft, p. 136, 137, 138. And
Brochmand, TheoL de Angelis, p. 227. Altho' the Devil's
Accusations may be so far regarded as to cause an enquiry
into the truth of things, Job 1, 11, 12. & 2. 5, 6. yet not
so as to be an Evidence or Ground of Conviction : The
Persons, concerning whom the Question is, see things
through Diabolical Mediums ; on which account their Evi-
dence is not meer humane Testimony; and if it be in any
part Diabolical, it is not to be owned as Authentick ; for
the Devil's Testimony ought not to be received neither in
whole nor in part. I arn told by credible Persons, who say
it is certainly true, that a bewitched Person has complained
that she was cast into Fits by the Look of a Dog; and that
she was no more able to bear the sight of that Dog, than
of the Person whom she accused as bewitching her : And
that thereupon the Dog was shot to death : This Dog was
no Devil; for then they could not have killed him. I sup-
pose no one will say that Dogs are Witches : It remains
then that the casting down with a Look is no infallible
sign of a Witch.

6. It has always been said, that it is a difficult thing to
find out Witches: But if the Eepresentation of such a
Person as afflicting, or the Look or Touch be an infallible
proof of the guilt of Witchcraft in the Persons complained
of, 'tis the easiest thing in the World to discover them ;
for it is done to our hand, and there needs no enquiry into
the Matter.

268 CASES OF CONSCIENCE

7. Let them say this is an infallible Proof, produce any
Word out of the Law of God which does in the least coun-
tenance that Assertion: The Word of God instructs Jurors
and Judges to proceed upon clear humane Testimony, Deut.
35. 30. But the Word no where giveth us the least In-
timation, that every one is a Witch, at whose look the be-
witched Person shall fall into Fits ; nor yet that any other
means should be used for the discovery of Witches, than
what may be used for the finding out of Murderers, Adul-
terers, and other Criminals.

8. Sometimes Antipathies in Nature have strange and
unaccountable Effects. I have read of a Man that at the
sight of his own Son who was no Wizzard, would fall into
Fits. There are that find in their Natures an averseness
to some Persons whom they never saw before, of which they
can give no better an account than he in Martial, concern-
ing Sabidius.

Non Amo te Saltidi, nee possum dicer e guare.

That some Persons at the Sight of Bruit- Creatures, Cats,
Spiders, &c. nay, at the sight of Cheese, Milk, Apples,
will fall into Fits, is too well known to be denied. Pen-
singius in his Learned Discourse DePulvere Sympathetico,
p. 128. saith, there was one in the City of Groning that
could not bear the sight of a Swine's Head : And that he
knew another who was not able to look on the Picture
thereof. Amatus Lusitanus speaks of one that at the sight
of a Rose would swoon away : This proveth that the falling
into a Fit at the sight of another is not always a sign of

CONCERNING WITCHCRAFTS. 269

Witchcraft. It may proceed from Nature, and the Power
of Imagination.

To conclude ; Judicious Casuists^ have determined, that to
make use of those Media to come to the Knowledge of any
Matter, which have no such power in them by Nature, nor
by Divine Institution is an Implicit going to the Devil to
make a discovery : Now there is no natural Power in the
Look or Touch of a Person to bewitch another ; nor is this
by Divine Institution the means whereby Witchcraft is dis-
covered : Therefore it is an unwarrantable Practice.

We proceed now to the third Case proposed to Considera-
tion • If the things which have been mentioned are not
infallible Proofs of Guilt in the accused Party, it is then
Queried, Whether there are any Discoveries of this Crime,
which Jurors and Judges may with a safe Conscience pro-
ceed upon to the Conviction and Condemnation of the Per-
sons under Suspicion ?

Let me here premise Two things,

1. The Evidence in this Crime ought to be as clear as in
any other Crimes of a Capital nature. The Word of God
does no where intimate, that a less clear Evidence, or that
fewer or other Witnesses may be taken as sufficient to con-
vict a Man of Sorcery, which would not be enough to convict
him were he charged with another evil worthy of Death,
Numb. 35. 30. if we may not take the Oath of a distracted
Person, or of a possessed Person in a Case of Murder, Theft,
Felony of any sort, then neither may we do it in the Case
of Witchcraft.

1 Ames. Cas. C&nsc. L. 4. C. 23.

270 CASES OF CONSCIENCE

2. Let me premise this also, that there have been ways
of trying Witches long used in many Nations, especially
in the dark times of Paganism and Popery, which the
righteous God never approved of. But which (as judicious
Mr. Perkins expresseth it in plain English) were invented
by the Devil, that so innocent Persons might be condemned,
and some notorious Witches escape : Yea, many Super-
stitious and Magical experiments have been used to try
Witches by : Of this sort is that of scratching the Witch,
or seething the Urine of the Bewitched Person, or making
a Witch-cake with that Urine : And that tryal of putting
their hands into scalding Water, to see if it will not hurt
them : And that of sticking an Awl under the Seat of the
suspected Party, yea, and that way of discovering Witches
by tying their Hands and Feet, and casting them on the
Water, to try whether they will sink or swim : I did
publickly bear my Testimony against this superstition in a
Book printed at Boston eight Years past.

I hear that of late some in a Neighbour Colony have
been playing with this Diabolical invention : It is to be
lamented, that in such a Land of Uprightness as New-
England once was, a Practice which Protestant Writers
generally condemn as sinful, and which the more sober and
learned Men amongst Papists themselves have not only
judged unlawful, but (to express it in their own terms) to
be no less than a Mortal Sin, should ever be heard of. Were
it not that the coming of Christ to judge the Earth draweth
near, I should think that such Practices are an unhappy
Omen that the Devil and Pagans will get these dark Terri-
tories into their Possession again But that I may not be

CONCERNING WITCHCRAFTS. 271

thought to have no reason for my calling the impleaded
Experiment into Question, I have these things further to
alledge against it.

1. It has been rejected long agone, by Christian Nations
as a thing Superstitious and Diabolical : In Italy and Spain
ii is wholly disused ; and 1in the Low-Countries, and in
France, where the Judges are Men of Learning. In some
parts of Germany old Paganism Customs are observed more
than in other Countries, nevertheless all the 2 Academies
throughout Germany have disapproved of this way of Pur-
gation.

2. The Devil is in it, all Superstition is from him ; and
when Secret things, or latent Crimes, are discovered by
superstitious Practices, some Compact and Communion
with the Devil is the Cause of it, as Austin* has truly inti-
mated ; and so it is here ; for if a Witch cannot be drowned,
this must proceed either from some natural Cause, which
it doth not, for it is against Nature for Humane Bodies,
when Hands and Feet are tied, not to sink under the
Water : Besides, they that plead for this Superstition, say
that if Witches happen to be condemned for some other
Crime and not for Witchcraft, they will not swim like a
Cork above Water, which Cause sheweth that the Cause of
this Natation is not Physical : Aud if not, then either it
must proceed from a Divine Miracle to save a Witch from
drowning ; or lastly, it must be a diabolical Wonder : This
superstitious Experiment is commonly known by the Name

1 Ddrio. Disquiss. Magic, pag. 642.

2 Malderus de Magia, cap. 10. dub. 11.

3 De Doctr. Christiana, Lib. 2. Cap. 20. 22.

272 CASES OF CONSCIENCE

of, The Vulgar Probation, because it was never appointed
by any lawful Authority, but from the Suggestion of the
Devil taken up by the rude Rabble : And some learned
Men are of Opinion, that the first Explorator (being a
white Witch) did explicitly covenant with the Devil, that
he should discover latent Crimes in this way : And that it is
by Virtue of that first Contract that the Devil goeth to work
to keep his Servants from sinking, when this Ceremony of
his ordaining is used. Moreover, we know that Diabolus
est Dei Simia, the Devil seeks to imitate Divine Miracles.
We read in Ecclesiastical Story, that some of the Martyrs
when they were by Persecutors ordered to be drowned,
prov'd to be immersible : This Miracle would the Devil
imitate in causing Witches, who are his Martyrs, not to sink
when they are cast into the Waters.

3. This way of Purgation is of the same nature with the
old Ordeals of the Pagans. If Men were accused with any
Crime, to clear their innocency, they were to take an hot
Iron into their Hands, or to suffer scalding Water to be
poured down their Throats, and if they received no hurt
thereby they were acquitted. This was the Devil's Inven-
tion, and many times (as the Devil would have it) they that
submitted to these Tryals suffered no inconvenience. Never-
theless, it is astonishing to think what innocent Blood has
been shed in the World by means of this Satanical device.
Witches have often (as ^Sprenger observes) desired that
they might stand or fall by this Tryal by hot Iron, and
sometimes come off well : Indeed, this Ordeal was used in
other Cases, and not in Cases of Witchcraft only : And so

1 Ddri. & Malderus. 2 In mcdleo malleficarum, p. 421.

CONCERNING WITCHCRAFTS. 273

was the Vulgar Probation by casting into the Water
practiced upon Persons accused1 with other Crimes as well
as that of Witchcraft : How it came to be restrained to
that of Witchcraft I cannot tell ; it is as supernatural for a
Body whose Hands and Feet are tied to swim above the
Water, as it is for their Hands not to feel a red hot Iron.
If the one of these Ordeals is lawful to be used, then so is
the other too : But as for the fiery Ordeal it is rejected and
exploded out of the World ; for the same reason then the
tryal by Water should be so.

4. It is a tempting of God when Men put the Innocency
of their Fellow-Creatures upon such tryals ; to desire the
Almighty to shew a Miracle to clear the Innocent, or to
convict the Guilty is a most presumptuous tempting of him.
Was it not a Miracle when Peter was kept from sinking
under the Water by the Omnipotency of Christ ? As for
Satan, we know that his Ambition is to make his Servants
believe that his Power is equal to God's, and that therefore
he can preserve whom he pleaseth. I have read2 of certain
Magicians, who were seen walking on the Water : If then
guilty Persons shall float on the Waters, either it is the Devil
that causes them to do so, (as no doubt it is) and what have
Men to do to set the Devil on work ; or else it is a Divine
Miracle,like that of Peter's not sinking, or that of the Iron that
swam at the Word of Elisha. And shall Men try whether
God will work a Miracle to make a discovery 1 If a Criire
cannot be found out but by Miracle, it is not for any Judge
on Earth to usurp that Judgment which is reserved for the
Divine Throne.

1 Menna, depurgatione vulgari, cap. vlt. 2 Ccesarius, Lib. 9.
T

274 CASES OF CONSCIENCE

5. This pretended Gift of Immersibility attending
Witches, is a most fallible deceitful thing ; for many a
Witch has sunk under the Water. Godelmannus1 giveth
an account of six notorious and clearly convicted Witches,
that when they were brought to their vulgar Probation,
sunk down under the Water like other Persons ; Althusius
affirms the like concerning others ; in the Bohemian His-
tory2 it is related, that UratslausiheKiugof Bohemia, extir-
pated Witches out of his Kingdom, some of which he de-
livered to the Ax, others of them to the Fire, and others of
them he caused to be drowned : If Witches are immersible,
how came they to die by drowning in Bohemia ? Besides, it has
sometimes been known that Persons who have floated on the
Water when the Hangman has made the Experiment on them,
have sunk down like a Stone, when others have made the tryal.

6. The Keasons commonly alledged for this Superstition
are of no moment : It is said they hate the Water ; whereas
they have many times desired that they might be cast on
the Water in order to their purgation : It is alledged, that
Water is used in Baptism, therefore Witches swim : A
weak Phansie ; all the Water in the World is not consecra-
ted Water. Cannot Witches eat Bread or drink Wine, not-
withstanding those Elements are made use of in the Blessed
Sacrament : But (say some) the Devils by sucking of them
make them so light that the Water bears them ; whereas
some Witches are twice as heavy as many an innocent
Person : Well, but then they are possessed with the Devil :
Suppose so ; Is the Devil afraid if they should sink, that

1 De Lamiis, L. 3. C. 4. 2 Dubravius, Hist. Cohim. Lib. 8.

CONCERNING WITCHCRAFTS. 275

he should be drowned with them 1 But why then were the
Gadarens Hogs drowned when the Devil was in them.

These things being premised, I answer the Question
affirmatively ; Thereare Proof sf or the Conviction of Witches
which Jurors may with a safe Conscience proceed upon, so
as to briny them in guilty. The Scripture which saith, Thou
shalt not su/er a Witch to live, clearly implies, that some
in the "World may be known and proved to be Witches :
For until they be so, they may and must be suffered to live.
Moreover we find in Scripture, that some have been con-
victed and executed for Witches : For Saul cut off those
that had familiar Spirits, and the Wizzards out of the
Land, 1 Sam. 28. 9.

It may be wondered that Saul who did like him that
said, Fleeter ~e si nequeo Superos Acheronta Movebo, should
cause the Wizzards in the Land to be put to death. The
Jewish Robbies say, the reason was, because those Wizzards
foretold that David should be King. It is, (as Mr. Gaul
observes1) the Opinion of some learned Protestants, that
Saul in his Zeal did over do : And that under the Pretext2
of Witches he slew the Gibeonites, for which that Judg-
ment followed, 2 Sam. 21. 1. Neither (saith Mr. Gaule)
want we the storied Examples of God's Judgments upon
those that defamed, prosecuted and executed them for
Witches, that indeed were none. But we have in the
Scripture the Example of a better Man than Saul to en-
courage us to make enquiry after Wizzards and Witches

1 In his Cases about Witchcraft, p. 181.

2 So Dr. Wittet, conjectures on 1 Sam. 21. 1.

276 CASES OF CONSCIENCE

in order to their Conviction and Execution. This did the
rarest King that ever lived caused to be done, viz. Josiah,
2. Kings, 23. 24. The Workers with familiar Sjnrits and
the Wizzards, that were spied in the Land of Judah, did
Josiah put aivay, that he might perform the Words of the
Law. It seems there were some that sought to hide those
Workers of Iniquity, but that incomparable King spied
them out, and rid the Land and the World of them.

Q. But then the Enquiry is, What is sufficient Proof?

A. This Case has been with great Judgment answered
by several Divines of our own, particularly by Mr. Perkins,
and Mr. Bernard ; also Mr. John Gaul a Worthy Minister
at Staughton, in the County of Huntington, has published
a very Judicious Discourse, called, Select Cases of Con-
science touching Witches and Witchcrafts, Printed at Lon-
don A.D. 1646. wherein he does with great Prudence and
Evidence of Scripture light handle this and other Cases :
Such Jurors as can obtain those Books, I would advise
them to read, and seriously as in the fear of God to consider
them, and so far as they keep to the Law and to the Testi-
mony, and speak according to that Word, receive the Light
which is in them. But the books being now rare to be had,
let me express my Concurrence with them in these two
particulars.

1. That a free and voluntary Confession of the Crime
made by the Person suspected and accused after Examina-
tion, is a sufficient Ground of Conviction.

Indeed, if Persons are distracted, or under the Power
of Phrenetick Melancholy, that alters the Case ; but the
Jurors that examine them, and their Neighbours that know

CONCERNING WITCHCRAFTS. Til

them, may easily determine that Case ; or if Confession be
extorted,1 the Evidence is not so clear and convictive ; but
if any Persons out of Remorse of Conscience, or from a
Touch of God in their Spirits, confess and shew their Deeds,
as the Converted Magicians in Ephesus did, Acts 19. 18,
1 9. nothing can be more clear. Suppose a Man to be sus-
pected for Murder, or for committing a Rape, or the like
nefandous. Wickedness, if he does freely confess the Accu-
sation, that's ground enough to Condemn him. The Scrip-
ture approveth of Judging the wicked Servant out of his own
Mouth, Luke 19. 22. It is by some objected, that Persons
in Discontent may falsly accuse themselves. I say, if they
do so, and it cannot be proved that they are false Accusers
of themselves, they ought to dye for their "Wickedness, and
their Blood will be upon their own Heads ; the Jury, the
Judges, and the Land is Clear : I have read a very sad and
amazing, and yet a true Story to this purpose.

There was in the Year 1649, in a Town called Lauder
in Scotland, a certain woman accused and imprisoned on
suspicion of Witchcraft, when others in the same Prison
with her were Convicted, and their Execution ordered to be
on the Monday following, she desired to speak with a Minis-
ter, to whom she declared freely that she was guilty of Witch-
craft, acknowledging also many other Crimes committed by
her, desiring that she might die with the rest : She said
particularly that she had Covenanted with the Devil, and
was become his Servant about twenty years before, and
that he kissed her and gave her a Name, but that since he
had never owned her. Several Ministers who were jealous
1 V. Bodin, Dcemonomania, L. 4.

278 CASES OF CONSCIENCE

that she accused herself untruly, charged it on her Consci-
ence, telling her that they doubted she was under a Tempta-
tion of the Devil to destroy her own Body and Soul, and
adjuring her in the Name of God to declare the Truth :
Notwithstanding all this, she stifly adhered to what she had
said, and was on Monday morning Condemned, and ordered
to be Executed that day. When she came to the place of
Execution, she was silent until the Prayers were ended,
then going to the Stake where she was to be Burnt, she thus
expressed herself, All you that see me this day! Know ye
that I am to die as a Witch, by my own Confession ! and
I free all Men, especially the Ministers and Magistrates,
from the guilt of my Blood, I take it wholly on my self, and
as I must make answer to the God of Heaven, I declare I
am as free from ditcher aft as any Child, but being accused
by a Malicious Woman, and Imprisoned under the Name
of a Witch, my Husband and Friends disowned me, and
seeing no hope of ever being in Credit again, through the
Temptation of the Devil, I made that Confession to destroy
my own Life, being weary of it, and chusing rather to Die
than to Live. This her lamentable Speech did astonish all
the Spectators, few of whom could restrain from Tears.
The Truth of this Relation (saith my Author1) is certainly
attested by a worthy Divine now living, who was an Eye
and an Ear- Witness of the whole matter ; but thus did that
miserable Creature suffer Death, and this was a just Execu-
tion. When the Amalekite confessed that he killed Saul,
whom he had no legal Authority to meddle with, although

1 Mr. Sindare, Invisible World, p. 45. and Burton, Hist, of
Daemons, p. 122.

CONCERNING WITCHCRAFTS. 279

tis probable that he belyed himself, David gave order for
his Execution, and said to him, Thy Blood be upon thy
Head, for thy Mouth hath Testified against tkee, 2 Sam.
1. 16. But as for the Testimony of Confessing Witches
against others, the case is not so clear as against themselvep,
they are not such credible Witnesses, as in a Case of Life
and Death is to be desired : It is beyond dispute, that the
Devil makes his Witches to dream strange things of their -
selves and others which are not so. There was (as Authors
beyond Exception relate) in appearance a sumptuous Feast
prepared, the Wine and Meat set forth in Vessels of Gold ;
a certain Person whom an amorous young Man had fallen
in Love with, was represented and supposed to be really
there ; but Apollonius Tyanwus1 discovered the Witchery
of the Business, and in an instant all vanished, and no-
thing but dirty Coals were to be seen : The like to this is
mentioned in the Arausican Council. There were certain
Women that imagined they rode upon Beasts in the Night,
and that they had Diana and Herodius in company with
them, besides a Troop of other Persons ; the Council giveth
this Sentence on it; Satanasqui se transfiguratinAngelum
Lucis, transformat se in diversaram, personarum species,
& mentem quam captivam tenet, in somnis deludit. Satan
transforms himself into the likeness of divers Persons, and
deludes the Souls that are his Captives with Dreams and
Fancies; see Dr. Willet on 1 Sam. 28. p. 165. What
Credit can be given to those that say they can turn Men
into Horses ? If so, they can as well turn Horses into Men ;
but all the Witches on Earth in Conjunction with all the
1 Boisard in vita Apollonii.

280 CASES OF CONSCIENCE

Devils in Hell, can never make or unmake a rational Soul,
and then they cannot transform a Bruit into a Man, nor a
Man into a Bruit ; so that this Transmutation is fantasti-
cal. The Devil may and often does impose on the Imagina-
tion of his Witches and Vassals, that they believe them-
selves to be Converted into Beasts, and reverted into
Men again ; as Nebuchadnezzar whilst under the Power of
a Dtemon really imagined himself to be an Ox, and would
lye out of Doors and eat Grass : The Devil has inflicted
on many a Man the Disease called Lycanthropia, from
whence they have made lamentable Complaints of their being
Wolves : In a word, there is no more Reality in what
many Witches confess of strange things seen or done by
them, whilst Satan had them in his full Power, than there
is in Lucian's ridiculous Fable of his being Bewitched into
an Asse, and what strange Feats he then played ; so that
what such persons relate concerning Persons and Things at
Witch-meetings, ought not to be received with too much
Credulity.

I could mention dismal Instances of Innocent Blood
which has been shed by means of the Lies of some Con-
fessing Witches ; there is a very sad Story mentioned in the
Preface to the Relation of the Witchcrafts in Sweedland,
how that in the Year 1676, at Stockholm, a young Woman
accused her own Mother (who had indeed been a very bad
Woman, but not guilty of Witchcraft,) and Swore that she
had carried her to the Nocturnal Meetings of Witches, upon
which the Mother was burnt to Death. Soon after the
Daughter came crying and howling before the Judges in
open Court, declaring, that to be revenged on her Mother

CONCERNING WITCHCRAFTS. 281

for an Offence received, she had falsely accused her with a
Crime which she was not guilty of ; for which she also was
justly Executed. A most wicked Man in France freely
confessed himself to be a Magician, and accused many
others, whose Lives where thereupon taken from them ; and
a whole Province had like to have been ruined thereby,
but the Impostorwas discovered : The Confessing pretended
Wizzard was burnt at Paris in the year 1668. I shall
only take notice further of an awful Example mentioned by
.A. B. Spotswoodin his History of Scotland, p. 449. His
words are these, 'This Summer (viz. Anno 1597.) there

* was a great business for the Tryal of Witches, amongst

* others, one Margaret Afkin being apprehended on suspi-
'cion, and threatned with Torture, did confess herself
' Guilty ; being examined touching her Associates in that

* Trade, she named a few, and perceiving her Delations

* find Credit, made offer to detect all of that sort, and to
1 purge the Country of them ; so she might have her Life

* granted : For the reason of her Knowledge, she said,
' That they had a secret mark all of that sort in their Eyes,

* ivhereby she could surely tell, how soon she looked upon

* any, whether they were Witches or not ; and in this she
' was so readily believed, that for the space of 3 or 4 Months
' she was carried from Town to Town to make Discoveries
1 iu that kind ; many were brought in question by her De-
'lations, especially at Glasgow, where diverse Innocent

* Women, through the Credulity of the Minister Mr. John
1 Cowper, were condemned and put to Death ; in the end
1 she was found to be a meer deceiver, and sent back to
1 Fife, where she was first apprehended : At her Tryal she

282 CASES OF CONSCIENCE

' affirmed all to be false that she had confessed of herself

* or others, and persisted in this to her Death, which made

* many fore-think their too great forwardness that way,
1 and moved the King to recall his Commission given out
1 against such Persons, discharging all Proceedings against
1 them, except in case of a voluntary Confession, till a solid
' Order should be taken by the Estates touching the form
' that should be kept in their Tryal.' Thus that famous
Historian.

2. If two credible Persons shall affirm upon Oath that
they have seen the party accused speaking such words, or
doing things which none but such as have Familiarity with
the Devil ever did or can do, that's a sufficient Ground for
Conviction.

Some are ready to say, that Wizzards are not so unwise
as to do such things in the sight or hearing of others, but
it is certain that they have very often been known to do so :
How often have they been seen by others using Inchant-
ments? Conjuring to raise Storms 1 And have been heard
calling upon their Familiar Spirits ? And have been known
to use Spells and Charms? And to shew in a Glass or in
a Shew-stone persons absent ? And to reveal Secrets which
could not be discovered but by the Devil ? And have not
men been seen to do things which are above humane
Strength, that no man living could do without Diabolical
Assistances ? Claudia was seen by Witnesses enough, to
draw a Ship which no humane Strength could move.
Tuccia a Vestal Virgin was seen to carry Water in a Sieve :
The Devil never assists men to do supernatural things
undesired. When therefore such like things shall be testi-

CONCERNING WITCHCRAFTS. 283

fied against the accused Party not by Spectres which are
Devils in the Shape of Persons either living or dead, but
by real men or women who may be credited ; it is proof
enough that such an one has that Conversation and Corres-
pondence with the Devil, as that he or she, whoever they
be, ought to be exterminated from amongst men. This
notwithstanding I will add ; It were better that ten suspected
Witches should escape, than that one innocent Person should
be Condemned ; that is an old saying, and true, Prestat
reum nocentem absolvi, quam exprohibitis Indiciis & ille-
gitima probatione condemnari. It is better that a Guilty
Person should be Absolved, than that he should without
sufficient ground of Conviction be condemned. I had rather
judge a Witch to be an honest woman, than judge an
honest woman as a Witch. The Word of God directs men
not to proceed to the execution of the most capital offen-
ders, until such time as upon searching diligently, the
matter is found to be a Truth, and the thing certain, Deut.
13. 14, 15.

An Acquaintance1 of mine at London, in his description
of Neiv-England declares, that as to their Religion, the
people there are like Mr. Perkins ; it is no dishonour to
us, if that be found true : I am sorry that any amongst us
begin to slight so great a Man, whom the most Learned2
in Foreign Lands, speak of with Admiration, on the ac-
count of his polite and acute Judgment : It is a grave and
good Advice which he giveth in his Discourse of Witch-
crafts (Chap. 7. Sect. 2.) wherewith I conclude ; ' I would

1 Mr. Merden in his Geogra. Phy. p. 577.

8 Voetius, Biblioth. 1. 2. Lecus, in Compend. Histor.

284 CASES OF CONSCIENCE.

1 therefore wish and advise all Jurors who give the Verdict
' upon Life and Death in the Court of Assizes, to take good
*' heed, that as they be diligent in zeal of God's glory, and
' the good of his Church, in detecting of Witches, by all
1 sufficient and lawful means, so likewise they would be
'careful what they do, and not to condemn any party
'suspected upon bare Presumptions, without sound and
' sufficient Proofs that they be not guilty through their own
' Rashness of shedding Innocent Blood."

Boston, New-England, Octob. 3. 1692.

POSTSCRIPT.

[HE Design of the preceding Dissertation, is
not to plead for Witchcrafts, or to appear as
an Advocate for Witches : I have therefore
written another Discourse, proving that there
are such horrid Creatures as Witches in the World ; and
that they are to be extirpated and cut off from amongst the
People of God, which I have Thoughts and Inclinations in
due time to publish ; and I am abundantly satisfied that
there have been, and are still most cursed Witches in the
Land. More than one or two of those now in Prison, have
freely and credibly acknowledged their Communion and
Familiarity with the Spirits of Darkness ; and have also
declared unto me the Time and Occasion, with the parti-
cular Circumstances of their Hellish Obligations and
Abominations.

Nor is there designed any Reflection on those worthy
Persons who have been concerned in the late Proceedings
at Salem : They are wise and good Men, and have acted
with all Fidelity according to their Light, and have out of
tenderness declined the doing of some things, which in our
own Judgments they were satisfied about : Having there-
fore so arduous a Case before them, Pitty and Prayers

286 POSTSCRIPT.

rather than Censures are their due ; on which account I
am glad that there is published to the World (by my Son)
a Breviate of the Try ah of some who were lately executed,
whereby I hope the thinking part of Mankind will be satis-
fied, that there was more than that which is called Spectre
Evidence for the Conviction of the Persons condemned. I
was not myself present at any of the Tryals, excepting one,
viz. that of George Burroughs; had I been one of his
Judges, I could not have acquitted him : For several Per-
sons did upon Oath testifie, that they saw him do such
things as no Man that has not a Devil to be his Familiar
could perform : And the Judges affirm, that they have
not convicted any onemeerly on the account of what Spectres
have said, or of what has been represented to the Eyes or
Imaginations of the sick bewitched Persons. If what is
here exposed to publick view, may be a means to prevent it
for the future, I shall not repent of my Labour in this Un-
dertaking. I have been prevailed with so far as I am able
to discern the Truth in these dark Cases, to declare my
Sentiments, with the Arguments which are of weight with
me, hoping that what is written may be of some use to dis-
cover the Depths of Satan ; and to prevent innocent ones
having their Lives endangered, or their Reputations ruined,
by being through the Subtility and Power of the Devils, in
consideration with the Ignorance and Weakness of Men,
involved amongst the Guilty. It becomes those of my
Profession to be very tender in Cases of Blood, and to
imitate our Lord and Master, Who came not to destroy the
Lives of Men, but to save them.

I likewise design in what I have written, to give my

POSTSCRIPT. 287

testimony against these unjustifiable ways of discovering
Witchcrafts, which some among us have practised. I
hear that of late there was a Witch-cake made with the
Urine of bewitched Creatures as one Ingredient, by several
Persons in a place, which has suffered much by the Attack
of Hell upon it : This I take to be not only wicked Super-
stition, but great Folly : For tho' the Devil does sometimes
operate with the Experiments, yet not always, especially if
a Magical Faith be wanting. I shall here take occasion
to recite some Passages in a Letter, which I received from
that Eminent pious and learned Man, Mr. Samuel Cradock;
during my abode in London ; the Letter bears date Febr.
26. 1690. Then take it in his own Words, which are these ;
1 We have at this present one in our next Town, who has

* a Son who has strange Fits, and such as they impute to

* Witchcraft : He come to consult with me about it, but

* before he came, he had used a means which I should
4 never had directed him unto, viz. He took the Nails of
'his Son's Hands and Feet, and some of his Hair, and

* mixed them in Rye-Paste with his Water, and so set it
1 all by the Fire till it was consumed, and his Son (as he
1 says) was well after, and free from his Fits for a whole

* Month, but then they came again, and He tried that
' means a second time, and then it would not do ; He re-
4 moved his Son into Cambridgeshire the next County, and
' then he was well, but as soon as he brought him home he
' was afflicted as before. The Boy says, He saw a thing
' like a Mole following of him, which once spoke to him,
' and told him he came to do the Office he was to do : I

* advised his Father to make use of the Medicine prescribed

288 POSTSCRIPT.

' by our Saviour, viz. Fasting and Prayer. Here have been
1 others in this Town, that though they were under III-

* handling as they call it : One Family had their Milk so
' affected, that they could not possibly make any Cheese,

* but it hov'd and swelled, and was good for nothing : They

* are now rid of that trouble, but how they got rid of it I

* do not know ' : Thus my Letter. By which it is evident
that Towns in England as well as Neiu-England are
molested with Dcemons, only I wish that the Superstitions
practiced in other places to get rid of such troublesome
Guests had never been known, much less used amongst us
or them.

Some I hear have taken up a Notion, that the Book
newly published by my Son, is contradictory to this of mine :
'Tis strange that such Imaginations should enter into the
Minds of Men : I perused and approved of that Book before
it was printed; and nothing but my Relation to him hindred
me from recommending it to the World : But my self and
Son agreed unto the humble Advice which twelve Ministers
concurringly presented before his Excellency and Council,
respecting the present Difficulties, which let the World
judge, whether there be anything in it dissentant from
what is attested by either of us.

It was in the Words following : —

POSTSCRIPT. 289

The Return of several Ministers consulted by his Excellency,
and the Honourable Council, upon the present Witch-
crafts in Salem Village.

Boston, June 15, 1692.

I. ' I v HE afflicted State of our poor Neighbours, that are
A now suffering by Molestations from the Invisible
World, we apprehend so deplorable, that we think their
Condition calls for the utmost help of all Persons in their
several Capacities. II. We cannot but with all Thankful-
ness acknowledge, the Success which the merciful God has
given unto the sedulous and assiduous Endeavours of our
honourable Rulers, to detect the abominable Witchcrafts
which Jiave been committed in the Country ; humbly pray-
ing that the discovery of these mysterious and mischievous
Wickednesses, may be perfected. III. We judge that in
the jwosecution of these, and all such Witchcrafts, there
is need of a very critical and exquisite Caution, lest by too
much Credulity for things received only upon the Devil's
Authority, there be a Door opened for a long Train of
miserable Consequences, and Satan get an advantage over
us, for ive should not be ignorant of his Devices. IV. As
in Complaints upon Witchcrafts, there may be Matters of
Enquiry, which do not amount unto matters of Presump-
tion^ and there may be Matters of Presumption which yet
may not be reckoned Matters of Conviction; so 'tisnccessary
that all Proceedings thereabout be managed wit'h anexceed-

290 POSTSCRIPT.

ing tenderness towards those that may be complained of;
especially if they have been Persons formerly of an unblem-
ished Reputation. V. When the first Enquiry is made
into the Circumstances of such as may lie under any just
Suspicion of Witchcrafts, we could wish that there may be
admitted as little as is possible, of suck Noise, Company,
and Openness, as may too hastily expose them that are
examined : and that there may nothing be used as a Test,
for the Trial of the suspected, the Laivfulness whereof may
be doubted among the People of God; but that the Direc-
tions given by such judicious Writers as Perkins and
Bernard, be consulted in suck a Case. VI. Presumptions
whereupon Persons may be committed, and muck mort
Convictions, whereupon Persons may be condemned as
guilty of Witchcrafts, ought certainly to be more consider-
able, than barely the accused Person being represented by a
Spectre unto the Afflicted ; inasmuch as 'tis an undoubted
and a notorious thing, that a Daemon may, by God's
Permission, appear even to ill purposes, in the Shape of
an innocent, yea, and a vertuous Man : Nor can we esteem
Alterations made in the Sufferers, by a Look or Touch of
the Accused to be an infallible Evidence of Guilt; but
frequently liable to be abused by the Devil's Legerdemains.
VII. We know not, whether some remarkable Affronts
given to the Devils, by our disbelieving of those Testi-
monies, whose whole force and strength is from them alone,
may not put a Period, unto the Progress of the dreadful
Calamity begun upon us, in the Accusation of so many
Persons, whereof we hope, some are yet clear from the great
Transgression laid unto their Charge. VIII. Neverthe-

POSTSCRIPT. 291

less, We cannot but humbly recommend unto the Govern-
ment^ the speedy and vigorous Prosecution of such as have
rendered themselves obnoxious, according to the Direction
given in t/ie Laws of God, and the wholesome Statutes of
the English Nation, for tJie Detection of JVitdicrafts.

THE END.